Dr. Betsy Muriithi is a Research Fellow at @iLabAfrica, where she leverages her expertise in data analytics to address pressing societal challenges. Her research focuses on using arti-ficial intelligence (AI) technologies to drive sustainable development, particularly in agri-culture and public health. Her current interests include exploring how these technologies can be used to create practical solutions for communities and businesses. She has developed tools that integrate AI and IoT to support smallholder farmers in enhancing climate resili-ence and productivity, as well as decision-support systems that improve public health per-formance monitoring. She also studies human-computer interaction focusing on (1) the mechanisms that enable effective data use for decision-making—whether its helping farm-ers optimize agricultural practices or assisting healthcare managers in boosting facility effi-ciency, and (2) how AI and data systems can be designed to be more inclusive, fostering eq-uitable access to technology in communities and businesses.

Human-AI collaboration, AI safety and governance

Winner Innovate Africa Challenge Climate Smart Agriculture Using an AI powered weather station solution to provide real – time data for sustainable agriculture

Awarded USD 25,000 grant from Mozilla Common Voice on Co-Designing IMARIKA Scalability

Awarded USD 93,000 grant from PEPFAR to implement community-led monitoring of healthcare facilities delivering PEPFAR funded HIV/AIDS services in Narok and Samburu counties

Awarded USD 60,000 grant to undertake research on AI powered voice technologies that leverage Mozilla Common Voice Project Kiswahili data set. Specifically, the project will prototype a conversational chatbot app offering digital climate advisory services in English and Swahili that will support smallholder farmers to adapt to changing weather patterns.

Awarded USD 53,000 grant from the Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture and Food Systems Innovation Research Network in Africa project. The grant project seeks to build and deploy smart weather stations for localised climate information services.

Awarded USD 12,500 grant from the Kenya Education Network (KENET) for the promotion of early-stage CS/IS research and development. The project aims to develop machine learning tools for decision support and modelling of public health care resources.

Awarded GBP 15,000 BBSRC Innovation Fellowship grant for the development and capacity building of early career researchers and PhDs in data science. The project organised 2022 Strathmore Data Week in collaboration with the Jean Golding Institute at the University of Bristol. The week focused on cultivating data science research in Africa by providing a platform for PhDs and early career researchers in data science to interact and exchange ideas; provide training on data science methods to students and researchers; and showcase collaborative data science research that addresses health, agriculture, and climate challenges.

▪ British Council Strathmore University and Imperial Learning Labs 2024 – https://www.kbc.co.ke/towards-climate-resilience-strathmore-university-imperial-college-partnership/

▪ PEPFAR Community Led Monitoring of Healthcare Facilities in Narok and Samburu (2023 – 2024)

▪ Machine Learning (ML)Tools for Decision Support and Modelling of Public Health Care Resources (2022 – 2023)

▪ Empowering Smallholder Farmers (SHF) in Busia County using Low-Cost IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) Tools (2022 – 2024)

▪ Imarika, a conversational chatbot for digital climate advisory services (2022 – 2023)

▪ Kenya Carbon Emission Reductio tool 2050 (2021 – 2022)

Publications

• Itotia, S., Muriithi, B., Gitahi, S., Korir, P., Murigi, M., Kimutai, R., … & Sevilla, J. (2023, December). Enhancing Agricultural Support for Small Scale Farmers in Kenya: An IoT-based Mini Weather Station as a Machine Learning Data Collector. In 2023 IEEE Global Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (GCAIoT) (pp. 66-71). IEEE. 10.1109/GCAIoT61060.2023.10385094

• Ogamba, M., Gitonga, J., Muriithi, B., Olukuru, J., & Sevilla, J. (2023, November). Wellness Buddy: An AI Mental Health Chatbot for Kenyan University Students. In 2023 First International Conference on the Advancements of Artificial Intelligence in African Context (AAIAC) (pp. 1-6). IEEE. 10.1109/AAIAC60008.2023.10465291

• Gachanja, J., Muriithi, B., Mwabonje, O., Mugwe, A., Olukuru, J., Da Silva, I. P., … & Sukpanit, P. (2023). Kenya’s Low Carbon Futures: An Assessment Using the KCERT Model. Energies, 16(21), 7459. org/10.3390/en16217459

• Igobwa, A.M., Gachanja, J., Muriithi, B. et al. A canary, a coal mine, and imperfect data: determining the efficacy of open-source climate change models in detecting and predicting extreme weather events in Northern and Western Kenya. Climatic Change 174, 24 (2022). org/10.1007/s10584-022-03444-6

Contributions

• AI Practitioners Guide Kenya. Data for Sustainable Development Goals. (2023). Available at https://www.data4sdgs.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/AI%20Practitioners%20Guide%20Kenya.pdf

• IDRC Research in Action : Responsible, ethical and feminist AI for development: Challenges and solutions (2024). Available at https://idrc-crdi.ca/en/research-in-action/responsible-ethical-and-feminist-ai-development-challenges-and-solutions
  
  
• Wambugu, A. et al. (2024) Governance of Safer Electricity Systems in Kenya. Available at https://engineeringx.raeng.org.uk/media/jiukrl0o/governance-of-safer-electricity-systems-in-kenya.pdf
  
  
• Wambugu, A. and Muriithi, B. (2024) Electric Appliance Quality Ecosystem: A Scoping Report for the Kenyan Market. Available at https://mecs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Electric-Appliance-Quality-Ecosystem.pdf