Third Global AI Summit launches in Saudi Arabia

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RIYADH - The third edition of the Global AI Summit (GAIN Summit), organized by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), was inaugurated on Tuesday in Riyadh, featuring 450 speakers and attendees from 100 countries, including prominent figures in the field of AI, policymakers, and thought leaders.

In his opening speech, SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi expressed gratitude to the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, for his patronage and emphasized the summit's role in furthering the Kingdom's Vision 2030, reported local news agency (SPA).

Al-Ghamdi highlighted the Saudi Arabia's leadership in AI innovation and SDAIA's commitment to its role in propelling the nation's economic growth through data and AI.

He underlined the summit's aim to push the AI boundaries for the benefit of humanity while acknowledging the ethical challenges posed by the rise of generative AI, including forgery, and the need to address information generated using AI.

He also highlighted the global competition for AI talent and the need to overcome the challenges inherent in attracting talent in order to ensure balanced digital, economic, and social development.

Al-Ghamdi presented the authority's achievements in the field of data and AI since its establishment in 2019, including holding the first edition of the Global AI Summit, where discussions led to the establishment of a UN-affiliated advisory body for AI.

He also highlighted the authority's role in fostering global collaboration in AI governance through hosting a major consultation for the UN, in which over 50 countries participated.

Al-Ghamdi lauded UNESCO's efforts in promoting AI ethics, including the establishment of the International Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Ethics (ICAIRE), in Riyadh, which is recognized by the organization as an international center.

He further outlined key SDAIA initiatives, including the ALLaM model, a pioneering Arabic language model developed in Saudi Arabia, and the "SauTech" innovation, a highly accurate Arabic speech-to-text tool covering 15 Arabic dialects.

This technology is being utilized by the Ministry of Justice to transcribe court sessions, placing it at the forefront of AI-driven judicial system, he explained.

Al-Ghamdi emphasized SDAIA's ongoing work with government agencies to leverage AI in the healthcare sector, highlighting the "EYENAI" solution, which has contributed to the early diagnosis of 846 potential patients in the past year.

Moreover, the authority organized the largest national programming and AI Olympiad, in which more than 570,000 Saudi students participated, adding that Saudi is also hosting the first International AI Olympiad, with 25 countries competing in Riyadh.

SDAIA, he said, has also made strides on a global scale with its effort to promote gender equality worldwide, particularly through the Elevate Initiative, which was launched during the second edition of the Global AI Summit, and through which the skills of women from 28 countries have been honed.

Al-Ghamdi stressed that AI is not a tool that replaces human capabilities, but a powerful enabler in expanding them.

He called for a human-centered AI, where technology promotes creativity and human compassion instead of replacing them, urging participants to join the summit discussions to bridge gaps, improve the quality of life, and create a future in which technology and humanity are in harmony.

On his part, Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Swaha presented the investment theory in AI in the first session of summit, titled "Empowering Society through AI Driven Technology".

He touched on three main challenges in AI: devices and energy efficiency, storage and memory, and models, where there might be confusion regarding accurate and false information.

The opening ceremony included visual presentations of the scope of AI, its relationship with humans, and the development of related technologies.