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Ubuntu AI

Ubuntu AI is a platform where African artists, makers, and designers share their work and help shape AI they own. I joined the team in 2023 as a full stack engineer, rebuilt the platform underneath, and I maintain it today.

Project
Ubuntu AI
Location
Africa + U.S.
Kind of work
Full stack engineer, on a team
Through
Center for Generative Justice
Stack
Same custom stack as Artisanal Futures (Next.js)
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The brief

Ubuntu AI is a joint project between the Center for Generative Justice and developers in Africa — African and U.S. researchers building AI that's owned and controlled by the people whose work and data it uses. On the platform, African creatives post their work, tell the story behind it, and take part in shaping that AI.

I wasn't there at the very start. I was brought on early, while the platform was still taking shape: it needed to be easier to use, its sign-in needed updating, and there was a long list of bugs to work through.

So I rebuilt it on the same stack I'd used for Artisanal Futures. The look is still the original team's design — underneath it, the platform is my rebuild, and I'm the one maintaining and tweaking it today.

What I built

Rebuilt the platform as its full stack engineer, on the same stack as Artisanal Futures
Updated sign-in and built invite-based onboarding, with a dashboard for each contributor
Built project creation and editing: image uploads, categories, and prompts about each piece
Built public comments and direct messages, so anyone can reach a contributor about their work
Built the community forums
Made the platform friendlier to use, worked through a long list of bugs, and still maintain it

A closer look

Ubuntu AI homepage listing contributors' projects

Homepage1/3

400
Participants, paid equally
100%
Data rights kept by contributors
2023
On the team since
Full stack
My role, on a team

Full details on this project are still being added.

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