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Chicago — A Black-owned generative AI program is helping to create a Black alternative to ChaptGPT.
Tamar Huggins founded Tech Spark AI to develop lessons for Black and brown students in underserved communities and has developed a generative AI website to allow users to translate classic literature into African American Vernacular English. Tamar’s daughter, Talia, who is well-versed in AAVE, has played a key role in training the company’s language model.
For Huggins, the main goal is to make Black people feel like “they belong,” she told TechCrunch.
“Oftentimes, technology is designed without the lens of Blackness, and therefore, the impact on Black communities can be quite negative, especially when it comes to AI in general,” Huggins said. “It’s really about how we can identify the problems that exist within our own communities using technology to create meaningful, safe-tailored solutions that generate impact.”
In addition to the language translation, the company has developed a tool to help educators understand how students learn best. Hip-hop melodies will accompany lessons who learn best by listening. A variety of dialects will be included for students in different parts of the world.
“A Black child in Canada is very different from the U.S., and it’s very different in Haiti or Jamaica,” Huggins said. “We believe to see the changes we want to see in our community, we have to redesign the learning experience, and in order to redesign it, we have to personalize it.”
Noah Johnson (he/him/his) is a Chicago-based journalist. Follow him on X: @noahwritestoo.
Edited by NaTyshca Pickett