Research Publications

Explore our contributions to the global AI research community, focusing on inclusive technology and African language processing.

15+
Publications
300+
Citations
8
Research Areas
12+
Languages Covered

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Published Research

Routing AlgorithmsIn review2025

A Principle of Least Action Approach to Multi-Factor Route Optimization

Thabhelo Duve
San Fransisco, CAConference Paper0 citations

Traditional GPS navigation systems optimize routes primarily for shortest travel time or shortest distance. While effective in well-mapped urban settings, these simple criteria can lead to suboptimal or even unsafe routes in challenging environments, especially in rural areas with incomplete infrastructure and variable road conditions. We formalize this approach through Thabhelo's Action Functional and establish Thabhelo's Action Routing Principle (TARP) as the theoretical foundation. We propose a novel route optimization framework inspired by the principle of least action from physics. By formulating route planning as the search for a path that minimizes a holistic "action" functional; one that combines multiple cost terms reflecting time, distance, energy, and various hazards; we create a unified, extensible optimization framework. This Lagrangian approach allows custom penalty terms for user-defined concerns, yielding highly flexible navigation suitable for autonomous vehicles in diverse and challenging environments.

InfrastructurePublished2024

Offline-First AI Infrastructure for Emerging Markets

Dr. Fatima Al-Rashid,Dr. Thabo Mthembu
ICLR 2024Conference Paper23 citations

A comprehensive framework for deploying AI systems in low-connectivity environments, enabling reliable AI applications across Africa's diverse infrastructure landscape.

Ethics & BiasPublished2024

Cultural Bias in Large Language Models: An African Perspective

Prof. Kwame Asante,Dr. Amara Okafor
FAccT 2024Conference Paper67 citations

An empirical study of cultural bias in existing large language models and proposed methods for creating more culturally inclusive AI systems.

Recent Preprints

Foundation ModelsPreprint2024

Scaling Foundation Models for African Languages: A Multi-Domain Approach

Dr. Amara Okafor,Prof. Kwame Asante,Dr. Fatima Al-Rashid,Dr. Thabo Mthembu

We present advances in scaling foundation models across multiple African languages and domains, demonstrating improved performance on downstream tasks.

Machine LearningPreprint2024

Federated Learning in Resource-Constrained Environments

Dr. Fatima Al-Rashid,Dr. Thabo Mthembu

A novel federated learning framework designed for environments with limited computational resources and intermittent connectivity.

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