Imagine a world without enough clean drinking water, a world where fresh water rivers and lakes have dried up, leaving parched lands in their wake and life forms struggling, their vitality stifled. Such a world mirrors a society without Ubuntu—void of the profound inner connection that binds humanity. In this talk, "Practicing Ubuntu for Collective Flourishing," I draw upon the African ancestral intelligence of Ubuntu to explore the intertwined relationship between people, land, and water. I invite you to journey through the undercurrents of Ubuntu—a philosophy that asserts, "I am because of who we all are"—and its application to modern challenges like AI innovation and its threat to fresh water access.  

Wakanyi Hoffman is a storyteller, author, keynote speaker specialized in Ubuntu philosophy, a scholar of indigenous knowledge, and narrative weaver of wisdom in AI. Wakanyi is the leader of the African folktales project. She is currently an academic fellow at The New Institute in Hamburg as part of the program on 'Conceptions of Human Flourishing.'

https://www.wakanyihoffman.com/