Sora 2 and the New Digital Temptation: How AI Fantasy Could Derail Africa’s Future
The Rise of the AI Dreamworld
I just watched a documentary on Sora 2, an AI system that can generate entire TikToks, complete with people’s likenesses, voices, and emotions. It’s a breathtaking display of technology and at the same time, a dangerous mirror showing where the world might be heading. Imagine logging in and seeing perfect versions of yourself living in a dream: vacationing in Paris, acting in music videos, dating celebrities, or living in a mansion all generated by AI. It’s fantasy on demand, and it floods the brain with dopamine like never before.
But here’s the catch, dopamine is addictive. It’s the chemical that makes us feel good, that rewards us for pleasure. When an app like Sora 2 delivers endless doses of that pleasure, the brain gets hooked. Now, instead of chasing real goals, people start chasing digital highs. The danger is very subtle, people begin to prefer the fantasy version of life over the real one.
The Decline of Productivity
This wave of AI-generated entertainment is about to create a new kind of distraction, one so immersive that it will make today’s social media addiction look harmless(you can imagine). Instead of scrolling through other people’s lives, we’ll be scrolling through our own AI-made dream versions, Hours will vanish, Days will melt and waste away.
For young people around the world, that means less time building, learning, or innovating and more time living inside illusions. It’s a recipe for widespread unproductivity. What happens when a generation of brilliant, energetic youth people who could be coding, designing, or solving real problems decide instead to live in a virtual mirror that flatters them endlessly? Please, you tell me.
The African Cost of Digital Escapism
Now imagine what this means for Africa. We already lag behind in technology development. While other countries are training their youth to create AI systems, robotics, and advanced software, too many of our own are becoming passive consumers. Instead of mastering these technologies, we’re getting lost in their entertainment.
It’s not that African youth aren’t talented we are among the most creative, adaptive, and energetic people on the planet, I always tell my peers this. But energy without direction is just noise. Every hour spent lost in an AI fantasy is an hour not spent building something that could change our continent’s story. The damage goes beyond individual productivity it’s a collective loss. Because when one continent is coding the tools, and another is merely using them for pleasure, the gap only widens.
While nations like the United States, China, and even India are pushing their boundaries with AI research, building data centers, and training large-scale models, Africa remains stuck fighting for basic infrastructure. We still rely heavily on imported tools instead of creating our own. The painful truth is that we are consumers, not producers, and this mindset has to change.
Why Oben IT Solutions Exists
This is exactly why Oben IT Solutions was founded to change the narrative. Our focus is not on copying the trends from Silicon Valley or building the next shiny fintech app. Our mission is to use AI to develop Africa’s critical sectors health, agriculture, education, and security and to solve the problems that directly affect our people.
We believe that AI is the greatest equalizer humanity has ever seen. It doesn’t care about borders, race, or economic background. The same algorithms that power billion-dollar companies can also help an African farmer predict very important things and have much greater harvests, it can help a rural doctor access accurate diagnosis. If we play this right, AI can help us leapfrog centuries of disadvantage and finally catch up. But if we waste this moment, we’ll stay stuck watching others build the future while we consume their leftovers.
A Call to Africa’s Tech-Minded Youth
This is a plea from one builder to another. African youth (Nigerian youths in this case especially), stop chasing the easy path. Stop building yet another payment app or copycat fintech platform just because it seems profitable. Fintech has its place, yes, but Africa’s future will not be saved by more wallet apps. It will be saved by innovation by young people who decide to use AI to fix power shortages, clean our water systems, improve healthcare, modernize education, and secure our digital borders.
Our generation has something no previous one ever had which is access. We have access to the same internet, the same open-source code, and the same learning tools as anyone else on earth. What we lack is collective focus. Every time we use AI only for amusement, we reinforce the stereotype that Africans are consumers, not creators. Every time we build something that solves a real problem, we chip away at that image.
The next time you see an AI video that makes you dream, remember, someone built that system. Someone sat down, wrote the code, and trained the model. Why can’t that someone be you?
The Future Is Still Ours to Build
AI can either be the technology that frees Africa or the one that distracts it forever. The difference lies in what we choose to do with it. While the rest of the world races ahead, we can’t afford to lose focus to dopamine-driven fantasies. We must see AI not as entertainment but as empowerment a tool to build systems that feed, heal, and educate our people.
If we take this seriously, Africa could become a global force in AI not by imitation, but by innovation. If we don’t, we risk becoming digital spectators in a world we should be helping to create.
So let’s build. Let’s think. Let’s code. Let’s make AI a tool of progress, not escape.
The future isn’t happening somewhere else it’s being written now. And Africa deserves a seat at the table.
