November 21st 2023.
Tamar Huggins and her daughter, Talia Grant, have achieved a remarkable feat. The duo have raised $1.4 million in a pre-seed funding round led by TD Bank for their AI-powered app, Spark Plug. This app aspires to be a leader in the field of inclusive generative AI.
The mother and daughter team have created Spark Plug to provide a more inclusive learning experience for Black students. Talia has trained the model with the help of Harlem Renaissance authors and civil rights movement activists. The product's language model is able to translate classical literature to African American Vernacular English.
The duo hopes that their platform will make learning more personal for Black students and Zoomers. Huggins stated, “Black people haven’t always felt like they belonged, and as a result, we’ve had to create our own spaces. Technology is no different.”
The creators of Spark Plug plan to expand the product to feature different ways Black people speak. Huggins explained, “A Black child in Canada is very different from the U.S., and it’s very different in Haiti or Jamaica. We believe to see the changes we want to see in our community, we have to redesign the learning experience, and in order to redesign it, we have to personalize it.”
The app will also be beneficial to people who do not identify as students. For example, the platform’s LearningDNA tool can help teachers understand how students learn best.
The development of Spark Plug is made possible by Tech Spark AI, the artificial intelligence company founded by Huggins. The company also established Canada’s first tech and design school for girls and children of color.
Huggins believes that AI can be a powerful tool to bring about positive change for Black people across the diaspora. She said, “As long as we are including the voices of those systematically left out of the conversation, AI can take us in the right direction.”
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