The Rundown Introduces Wanja, A Learning Guide for Comms About Africa

Hello !

We wanted to give you an update on what's going on over at The Rundown. The team here are really hard at work and running toward the end of year finish line.

One of the goals for our modern comms academy is to understand how we can use AI in the work that we do, the communications mission we have and the practical ways we can share it with you.

We believe the powerful story of Africa on the move should be told by Africans, and now by African-Led Data Sets.

We have created Wanja. She is Kenyan (like me) She is your AI guide to understanding, covering and communicating about the diverse continent of Africa. Her data sets are from African thought leaders, credible individuals and important perspectives.

If you are covering Africa as a journalist, if you are a comms expert, if you are trying to do PR in Africa, weh, you need to check in with Wanja, and see what she has to say because she reflects the diverse views of the continent.

By 2050 one in every 4 people in the world will be African. Africa is a powerful player in the creative and cultural industries, you know it by the films, the music, the art, the literature already out there, and only growing. Africa will be a three trillion dollar market to tap.

Wanja knows the deal. We want you to participate in our closed beta. If you sign up to our mailing list, you will receive an invite to try her out. Ebu try.

Caveats:

There are many, so here goes:

• The AI space is moving so fast its hard to keep up with but we want to be out front. Trying. Learning. Sharing.
• We are using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) with OpenAI. We have generated over a 1000 embeddings, it's small, but we will grow it.
• Our data sets are from interviews with credible and recognized African leaders in their field. It's been curated by The Rundown. All of it is publicly available.
• Wanja can make mistakes.
• Wanja may get dated, but we are figuring out how to keep her as current as possible.
• The areas she will do well in particularly are Climate and Africa, Creative and Cultural Industries and Health in Africa. .
• We are not making her public just yet because she's not ready, sometimes she breaks. down. The query responses can get weird. There are a few jumps.

We try. That's the name of the Game. Africa, no dey carry last, data sets. That's our story to own. We would be so grateful if you tested Wanja, offered your views on whether you found her useful or not and what pain points she could solve for you

Please sign up here