Prof. Vukosi Marivate’s Inaugural Lecture: Beyond the Symbols

On 26 August 2025, Prof. Vukosi Marivate, Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria and leader of the Data Science for Social Impact (DSFSI) group, delivered his Inaugural Lecture titled “Beyond the Symbols: Natural Language Processing as an Adaptive Problem.” The lecture highlighted the journey of advancing AI and NLP for African languages, tackling systemic underrepresentation, and envisioning a future where language technology is inclusive, equitable, and adaptive.

Expanding AI for African Languages

Prof. Marivate reflected on his research journey since 2015, focusing on:

• Addressing data scarcity through innovative techniques and augmentation methods.
• Building open datasets such as Next Voices, a large-scale multilingual speech dataset.
• Developing adaptable language models like PuoBERTa and Pula.
• Championing open licensing frameworks such as NOODL and Esethu to protect community data.
• Growing communities and ecosystems through initiatives like Masakhane, Lelapa AI, and the Deep Learning Indaba.

“NLP must be treated as an adaptive problem — one that requires not only technical innovation, but also equity, participation, and cultural relevance.” — Prof. Vukosi Marivate

Broader Impact

The lecture emphasized that global AI systems often overlook African contexts, reinforcing the importance of building homegrown resources, models, and research communities. Prof. Marivate also introduced the African Institute for Data Science and AI (AfriDSAI), a new platform to enable breakthroughs in AI and data science, support talent development, and strengthen continental collaboration.

The enhanced recording of the lecture, complete with slide overlays, is now available on YouTube:
👉 Watch the Lecture

This version was created using the original stream made available by the UP Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and IT — we thank them for their support.