Under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), the third edition of the Global AI Summit, organized by SDAIA, kicked off today (Tuesday). The summit features more than 450 speakers and is attended by a select group of local, regional, and international figures, economic policymakers, thought leaders, and AI specialists from 100 countries, participating in more than 150 sessions and workshops.

The ceremony was attended by a number of princes, ministers, senior international officials, thought leaders, heads of major technology and artificial intelligence companies from around the world, and ambassadors accredited to the Kingdom.

Dr. Abdullah Sharaf Al-Ghamdi, President of SDAIA, delivered the opening speech of the summit, in which he expressed his sincere thanks and gratitude to the Crown Prince for sponsoring the summit in its third edition. He said: “In the Kingdom, we are guided in our journey in the field of artificial intelligence by the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, as the Crown Prince’s firm leadership has placed the Kingdom among the countries of innovation in artificial intelligence, and SDAIA has received his continuous support to carry out its assigned role to elevate the Kingdom to leadership among the economies based on data and artificial intelligence.”.

He added: “Today at this summit, we are raising the bar and pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence higher and further for the good of humanity. Today, we see how this field has developed and created generative artificial intelligence, which is a revolution in creativity, innovation, and cooperation. Its rise has caused an information boom and deepfakes. Information generated using artificial intelligence has also created an ethical dilemma that we must confront head-on.”.

He stressed that global competition for talent in the field of artificial intelligence poses a complex, intertwined, and crucial challenge that we must overcome, and that the attraction of talent to the Global North widens the gap, threatening digital, economic, and social development internationally. However, despite the challenges, I remain optimistic, and I call for cooperation to deal with the world of artificial intelligence.

Al-Ghamdi reviewed the efforts made by SDAIA in the field of data and artificial intelligence since its establishment in 2019, including organizing the first edition of the Global AI Summit, during which a consultative session was held to establish an advisory body for artificial intelligence affiliated with the United Nations. Today, in the third edition of the summit, this success is being celebrated. In the second edition of the Global AI Summit, SDAIA presented the world with the largest event for thought leaders in artificial intelligence.

He also reviewed the international efforts made by SDAIA to benefit from data and artificial intelligence, including hosting one of the largest UN AI governance consultations in Riyadh with the participation of more than 50 countries. He praised UNESCO’s efforts in shaping global AI ethics and its recognition at its General Conference of the International Center for Research and Ethics in Artificial Intelligence (ICAIRE), under its auspices, as a Category II international center based in Riyadh, which confirms the Kingdom’s leadership in promoting AI ethics.

Al-Ghamdi touched on several projects and innovations that SDAIA has worked on, including: the Allam model, a leading large Arabic language model that was proudly developed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as the “Your Voice” innovation, which was revealed at the second edition of the Global AI Summit. It is the most accurate tool for converting speech to text in Arabic and covers 15 Arabic dialects. He explained that the Ministry of Justice uses “Your Voice” to record thousands of hours of virtual court sessions every day, which puts the ministry among the world leaders in AI-powered judicial systems.

His Excellency pointed out that SDAIA continued its efforts to employ the use of artificial intelligence with government agencies to work in the field of healthcare to revolutionize this sector through artificial intelligence in order to confront critical medical challenges such as diabetic retinopathy. SDAIA also helped in providing an AI-based solution called “My Eyes” which contributed to the early diagnosis of 846 potential patients in the last 12 months.

Dr. Al-Ghamdi explained that SDAIA is committed to addressing the challenges of local and global artificial intelligence talents, and accordingly it organized the largest national Olympiad for programming and artificial intelligence, in which more than 570,000 male and female students in the Kingdom participated. Today, the Kingdom is hosting the first international Olympiad for artificial intelligence, with the participation of more than 25 countries who are now competing in another location in Riyadh.

His Excellency explained that SDAIA continued its journey in building national capabilities and worked to achieve gender equality by 50% in the artificial intelligence workforce at SDAIA; it also reached global levels in its humanitarian efforts to contribute to promoting gender equality globally, citing the Elevate initiative that was launched at the second edition of the Global AI Summit, during which the skills of women from 28 countries were refined.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi stressed that artificial intelligence is not a tool to replace human capabilities, but rather a powerful enabler to expand the scope of human capability, noting that this journey is not only about technological achievements, nor is it a race towards the smartest artificial intelligence; rather, it is about formulating a partnership between humans and machines to solve pressing challenges and to make artificial intelligence work with and for humanity.

Al-Ghamdi called through the summit for working towards human-centered artificial intelligence, as technology enhances creativity and human empathy and does not replace them. He also called for joining the discussions of the Global AI Summit to bridge the gap, improve the quality of life, and create a future in which technology and humanity can harmonize in our contemporary and future lives and flourish in continuous harmony.