In an age where artificial intelligence is transforming how we learn, communicate, and do business, language remains one of the most powerful tools for inclusion — or exclusion. While global tech companies have made tremendous progress in building AI voice assistants and voiceover tools in languages like English, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic, many African languages — including Somali — are still left behind.
As a Somali content creator and AI enthusiast, I’ve experienced this challenge firsthand. When I first started my journey building AI-powered content for Somali audiences, I was met with an uncomfortable reality: there are no high-quality AI voices that speak fluent, natural Somali.
And that’s a serious problem. Here’s why.
1. Language is Access. Somali Youth Are Being Left Behind.
AI tools like ChatGPT, voice assistants, and educational bots are reshaping how people learn and grow. But when those tools can’t understand or speak your language, they become useless — or worse, alienating.
Somali youth, both in Somalia and in the diaspora, face a double challenge: many are not fully comfortable using complex tools in English, yet the tools that should serve them in Somali are robotic, broken, or completely unavailable.
This language gap creates a silent divide: Somali youth are interested in tech and AI — but they can’t fully access it in their own voice.
2. Poor-Quality Somali TTS Holds Creators Back
Text-to-speech (TTS) has opened doors for faceless content creators. But for Somali creators, the door is still half-shut.
I’ve personally tested many of the top AI voice generators — ElevenLabs, Google Cloud TTS, Azure, OpenAI’s Whisper — and none of them produce Somali speech that feels natural or fluent. The intonation is flat. The pronunciation is off. And the emotion? Non-existent.
This affects:
Somali educators trying to teach online.
YouTubers like myself trying to explain AI in Somali.
Startups trying to build AI assistants for Somali-speaking users.
In short, the lack of strong Somali TTS is slowing down innovation and representation.
3. Why Big Tech Isn’t Solving This (Yet)
Why is Somali behind? Three big reasons:
Low commercial demand: Most companies prioritize languages that serve large paying markets.
Lack of datasets: Somali audio-text datasets are rare and poorly labeled.
Fragmented spelling: Somali orthography is not standardized across tools and dialects.
Until these issues are addressed — either by governments, nonprofits, or grassroots technologists — Somali will remain in the margins of the AI revolution.
4. So What Can We Do? (And Why I’m Building Anyway)
Despite the challenges, I believe Somali youth — both in the Horn of Africa and abroad — deserve AI that speaks their language.
That’s why I’ve shifted my focus toward building Somali-language AI tools. I’m not a large company. I’m just one person with a mission — to help Somali creators, educators, and businesses build their future using AI, in Somali.
Whether it’s through voice cloning, fine-tuning open-source TTS models, or creating simple AI chatbots for Somali customer service — the goal is the same: inclusion through technology.
Let’s Collaborate: Your Skills Are Needed
If you’re a developer, linguist, voice artist, AI researcher, or simply someone passionate about the future of Somali technology — I invite you to join this mission.
💬 I’m actively looking for collaborators to help build the future of Somali AI. If you have skills, ideas, or just a deep interest in this space — reach out. Let’s work together to make Somali language AI tools that empower our people.
📧 Contact me: jumailyaz99@gmail.com
🌐 Or connect via LinkedIn
It Starts With Us
If you’re Somali and passionate about tech, don’t wait for someone else to build the tools you need. We may not have the resources that Silicon Valley has — but we have the motivation, the language, and the vision.
Let’s build Somali AI that actually sounds like us.
