We're Living in an Exponential World
If you want to make predictions based on the past, your results will be underestimated. To do it correctly, you need to be a little crazy because experts couldn't predict that things would go much faster than expected in terms of AI. The performances of AI have exceeded predictions in an explosion of perspectives," warns Karim Beguir, co-founder and CEO of InstaDeep, the prestigious guest who was welcomed via video conference at the 26th edition of the International Annual Forum of the Maghreb Economist, on May 20, 2025, in Tunis.
Investing in a Massive Solar Power Plant
Despite this, Beguir announces in his keynote that we are currently in the childhood of AI, even though it is capable of writing better code than 99% of programmers: "There are 30 trillion words on the Internet, and these data, with the power of calculation and the model, are the three components of AI. From there, it creates its own synthetic data, invents its own data, and is even on the verge of accelerating its own machines and proposing its own models."
He evokes Africa, which possesses 0.5% of the world's calculators: "In comparison, between human competence in calculation and AI, it's a ratio of one to a hundred. Without it, we're missing a spectacular acceleration. If we don't have data centers, we can't be competitive. But these systems are very energy-hungry. The good news is that the increase in solar panels is a great opportunity for Africa and Tunisia. Clean energy with exceptionally competitive prices. My dream for Tunisia: to be ambitious and seize opportunities! It should invest in the largest solar power plant and in AI."
"I'm Dedicated to Educating 10,000 Young People"
Beguir returns to the Bitcoin experience from an African angle: "Bitcoin was decried, but its penetration speed has only increased thanks to the Internet. In Africa, Ethiopia ensures clean electricity for Bitcoin mining and immediately monetizes this energy. In Asia, Bhutan has gone even further and made Bitcoins a strategic reserve."
According to him, it is urgent that Tunisia undertakes a program to develop the capacities of its young people in using AI in all fields: health, education, transportation, agriculture... : "This is where Tunisia's future is being played out. With my association Tatooine (named after the Star Wars planet), I'm dedicated to educating 10,000 young people. For Tunisia to enter the AI era, the calculation infrastructure is essential. I wrote a book-manifesto to share my ideas about the world of tomorrow and show the inevitable changes for Tunisia to be prosperous, and InstaDeep has been for me the opportunity to test all these concepts in reality."
