Amid South Africa’s perfect storm of few universities, racial inequities and economic disparities, AI students find support in a not-so-grassroots grassroots movement. MULDERSDRIFT, South Africa The University of Johannesburg might have selected Joburg, rather than the bush, for the most recent Southern African Conference for Artificial Intelligence Research focused on human-centered AI. After all, the city would have offered convenience for attendees from around the continent and beyond. Also, humans are decidedly not at the center of the Gauteng Province’s red-dirt landscape.