The world is rapidly evolving with serious tensions brewing and boiling over: Data production has exploded enabling revolutionary developments in artificial intelligence (AI); AI is forcing the world to ponder serious questions about the boundaries of uniquely human capacities (human exceptionalism or divinity) and whether they — the boundaries—can still hold with increasing encroachment of intelligent machines; the world has become at once, and paradoxically, increasingly connected with ubiquitous semi-conductors yet also territorial (nationalistic) with rising economic anxieties of citizens within nations. Global output has skyrocketed and macro economic prosperity has soared yet the divide between the rich and poor, whether with respect to people or nations, continues to deepen. Mankind, perhaps partly due to the scripted images of perfect livelihoods on social media, have grown more secular and less spiritual, and cultivated a greedy need for materialistic pleasures. All of these forces have exerted enormous compounding pressures on our world and subjected it to severe and ominous consequences: burgeoning lack of trust, unquenchable wacamolic wars, global warming and its associated environmental catastrophes, mental health degradation, degradation of human self esteem, starvation, poverty and so on and so forth. Africa is most impacted from the above threats but enjoys the least amount of attention whether in thoughts or plans or actions.
As a concerned son of Africa and the world, who also believes in the ultimate solidarity of mankind, I cannot stand still without at least sharing my opinions about how we can resolve some of the challenges that threaten to topple our world and the quality of human lives within. GKD Letters is my little way of actively presenting my thoughts on the major problems of Africa and offering a vision for the way ahead. I hope you are as activated by reading these letters as I am in writing them. Let’s change Africa and the world together!