AI for Peace is AI for Education.
This was one of the key orientations I shared at AICD25 during my speech on « AI for Peace: Charting Africa’s Governance Future. » Here’s why this matters now more than ever.
Let me be direct: the world isn’t divided by borders anymore. It’s divided by who’s ready and who’s not.
Yes, we talk about military conflicts. But there’s another war happening right now: quieter, deeper, reshaping how our children think, dream, and decide.
Every morning, we reach for our phones. Those tools we thought would connect us? They’ve become something else entirely. Algorithms now decide what we see, what we believe, what we want. And most of us don’t even notice.
Here’s what keeps me up at night:
Children under 8 can’t tell the difference between an ad and real content. Young influencers are making $21 million a year, programming our kids’ desires before they can even reason for themselves. In April 2025, a boy named Abraham in the U.S. took his own life after conversations with AI.
This isn’t an isolated tragedy. It’s a warning.
We’ve adopted technology faster than we’ve prepared our people for it. China understood this 20 years ago and invested accordingly. Africa must make that same choice now: not later, now.
Because the greatest war today isn’t fought with weapons. It’s fought with information. And those who are unprepared are simply unprotected.
Peace begins where it always has: in education.
Through Mission NOVA and TechWomen Factory, we’re preparing a generation of Africans who are:
- Productive: future work demands creativity, not compliance
- Proud: sovereignty means creating technology, not just consuming it
- Fulfilled: because people who know themselves make ethical choices
We’re using phones to meet children and parents where they already are, building critical thinking and digital wisdom one lesson at a time.
Education must become our first act of sovereignty again. We must teach creativity, problem-solving, ethics, and self-knowledge with the same urgency as reading and math. These aren’t nice-to-haves. These are the shields of tomorrow.
Nelson Mandela once said, « Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. » In the AI era, that weapon becomes even more critical. Yes, it about changing the world but more and more about protecting our minds, preserving our sovereignty, and securing our future.
Technology is rewriting the world. Our mission? To make education rewrite humanity: consciously, responsibly, intentionally.
Because at the end of the day, AI for Peace is AI for Education.
And through education, Africa can chart a peaceful, dignified, and sovereign digital future.
KITIO Arielle
