When farmers take a photo of unfamiliar spots on a crop and ask a question on their phone, they’re not thinking about digital systems or models. They are looking for reassurance, guidance and something they can act on before the problem spreads. Moments like these are becoming increasingly common as technology becomes a first stop for information and decision-making, from the field to the clinic and the classroom. Yet whether that farmer gets a useful answer still often comes down to a simple factor: language.
Across South Africa, where 12 official languages reflect deeply rooted histories, cultures and ways of sharing meaning, language determines more than comfort or preference, it shapes access. Digital tools are playing a growing role across all aspects of our lives – work, health, education and business – but their usefulness depends on whether people can engage with them naturally and intuitively, in the language they live and think in.
According to the 2025 AI Diffusion Report globally, more than 1.2 billion people have used AI tools in the past three years, but usage is uneven, with the rate in the Global North almost double that of the Global South. The report suggests that language is a barrier, with lower adoption in places where local languages have less digital content, even after adjusting for income and connectivity.
It’s a significant imbalance. Out of more than 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, fewer than 100 have enough digital presence to meaningfully shape today’s large language models (LLMs). That means millions of people can’t use their language to navigate AI systems. The result is a widening gap in who benefits, particularly between the Global North and the Global South.
AI is powered by large language models trained on vast amounts of text to understand and generate responses. English accounts for half of online content, which shapes how AI learns and creates a wide disparity in who benefits from it. That’s why Microsoft researchers and data scientists are building open tools and partnerships to expand language support so more people can use AI in their native tongue.
“Solving the language challenge isn’t as simple as just translating content,” says Jacki O’Neill, lab director of Microsoft Research Africa in Nairobi, a team working to expand the linguistic and cultural inclusivity of AI tools. “AI’s usefulness depends on whether it can respond to what people mean, not just what they say, and meaning lives in a community’s culture, which is deeply intertwined with its language.”
It is an observation that is particularly relevant in South Africa, where shared understanding is often shaped as much by context and experience as by words themselves. For businesses and public-sector organisations, this reality presents an opportunity to create tools and services that reflect local voices, rather than expecting users to adapt to unfamiliar ones.
According to Vukani Mngxati, CEO of Microsoft South Africa, closing this gap is also an economic imperative and requires a shift in where investment and capability are built. “Africa is remarkably diverse, and we can’t assume technologies developed elsewhere will naturally understand how we speak or work. If we want technology to be genuinely useful here, it needs to understand us in our own languages and contexts. That means building local models, local expertise and local organisations that can take what exists globally and shape it into something that makes sense for our region.”
“Consider how isiZulu is spoken in everyday life. The language often shifts between more formal forms used in professional or official settings and more colloquial expressions used among friends, family and communities,” he adds. “While both may communicate the same meaning, they can sound very different. For AI systems, recognising these nuances is crucial. A technology platform that only understands formal language may miss the intent behind what people are really asking. When AI can understand both formal and informal ways of speaking, people can engage with it naturally and confidently, and receive responses that are more accurate, relevant and useful.”
The impact of that approach becomes clear when looking at practical, everyday examples. In agriculture, farmers increasingly depend on digital tools to diagnose crop conditions, manage resources and make time-sensitive decisions. If those tools cannot engage with farmers in familiar language, much of their value is lost, regardless of how advanced the underlying technology might be.
Those same dynamics play out beyond the field, particularly in healthcare, where understanding and behaviour change depend just as much on familiarity and trust as access to information.
For example, in South Africa, Type 2 diabetes affects a growing number of adults, and has a higher rate of the disease than the global average. While research shows that lifestyle changes can significantly improve outcomes, the advice patients receive is often broad, difficult to personalise and delivered in short clinical interactions that leave little room for discussion.
The African Health Stories project is using generative AI to create personalised stories aimed at helping people living with Type 2 diabetes make realistic lifestyle changes. It is a collaboration between Microsoft Research, Stellenbosch University, the University of Pretoria, Swansea University and a team of medical experts which provides patients and clinicians the opportunity to generate stories that answer questions and offer guidance on living with diabetes, grounded in their language, culture and everyday realities — such as diet and exercise choices shaped by local food options and routines.
For South African businesses, these examples underline a broader truth. Language is not only a question of inclusion or accessibility; it is a driver of relevance, trust and uptake. As digital tools continue to shape how people access information and services, organisations that invest in language-aware approaches are better placed to reach wider markets and serve them more meaningfully.
“The real opportunity now is not just in adopting new technology, but in shaping it so it reflects who we are,” says Mngxati. “When we invest in language, skills and local insight, we create tools that people trust, use and build on. That’s how technology moves from being something we import, to something that helps us grow our economy in ways that are relevant, inclusive and sustainable.”
