[LONDON, SciDev.Net] An artificial intelligence-powered innovation developed with scientists behind the landmark Higgs boson discovery is being used to monitor air quality in real time in South Africa, one of the continent’s biggest polluters. Financial costsThe World Bank estimates that poor health due to outdoor air pollution costs up to US$6 trillion every year. Almost all of these countries are low- or middle-income countries, suggesting that the main barrier for monitoring air pollution is financial. South Africa is one of these countries that is underserved by current air quality monitoring facilities, says Vumile Senene, country lead for South Africa at the Clean Air Fund. They now hope to deliver networks of air quality sensors to the rest of Africa and beyond.