AI for the Good of Humanity

Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, has positioned itself as the new global center of artificial intelligence after thousands of the world’s AI thought-leaders, policy-makers and innovators convened in the city to create a blueprint for future use of the technology.
The Global AI Summit hosted contributions from 220 of the greatest minds in AI. It generated more than 40 groundbreaking agreements that will transform use of the technology in critical sectors, from healthcare and transportation to energy and smart cities. Google, IBM, Siemens and the World Bank are among companies and institutions that signed historic partnerships.

The three-day summit last month (Sep) was dedicated to “AI for the Good of Humanity”, reflecting its mission to spark a global movement that will reimagine the use of neural networks and create a sustainable and accessible future for all mankind. Hosted by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), the event was a statement of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s recognition of the importance of AI and its desire to be a beacon of positive leadership in the development of the technology in line with its Vision 2030 strategy of economic and social reform.
Signalling that intent, Saudi Arabia used the event to set out a framework of AI Ethics Principles, drawn up by SDAIA and designed to ensure ethical and responsible development and future use of AI technologies. SDAIA signed an agreement with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to create a global framework for measuring AI Readiness and help countries share best practice in AI.

Saudi Arabia announced it was joining the World Bank’s Digital Development Partnership (DDP), sharing its expertise in digital tools and AI to support sustainable growth in developing countries. In another significant initiative, titled the Riyadh AI Call for Action Declaration (RAICA), Saudi Arabia and other member states of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) committed to using AI for humanitarian purposes to benefit the lives of millions across the developing world.
The second edition of the Global AI Summit saw Riyadh confidently declare itself “The New Home of AI”. More than 15,000 visitors from more than 90 countries attended the event at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center between 13-15 September. They heard speeches and presentations from some of the world’s greatest thinkers in AI.

Scott Crowder, Vice President of IBM Quantum, called for a “collaborative” approach to “developing the workforce of the future”. Dr Carl Benedikt Frey of Oxford University said AI “promises to transform the world of work” in “profound and unpredictable ways”. Professor Jürgen Schmidhuber, director of the AI Initiative at Saudi’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), promised: “A new, huge revolution is coming. Don’t be afraid, all will be good.”

Delegates gained insights into AI’s potential future impact. Dr Sebastian Thrun, founder of Kittyhawk, which is developing remotely-piloted air taxis, said: “This technology is going to change everyone’s life.” Anima Anandkumar, director of machine learning research at NVIDIA, said AI could increase the speed of weather forecasting by 45,000 times. Addressing global climate threats, Mark Minevich, president of Going Global Ventures and co-chair of AI for Planet Alliance, said: “We have to use the best AI solutions and data sets to address those problems.”

Saudi Arabia is looking to attract and develop the world’s best AI talent. Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco, said “opportunities” in AI were “growing exponentially” and the technology must be “entrenched in new businesses from the start”. He announced a strategic project, the Global AI Corridor, designed to “train Saudi talent, support Saudi start-ups and…build a local AI ecosystem”, including an AI delivery factory, AI academy and AI R&D labs. Aramco is partnering on the project with Beyond Limits, a Californian AI company.

Kent Larson, director of City Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s MIT Media Lab, spoke of “this incredible opportunity you have here in Saudi Arabia” to use AI to develop a high-performance model for cities. The summit offered a prize of 1 million Saudi Riyals (US$266,000) to the winners of “Smartathon - The Smart Cities Challenge”, a competition to improve Saudi Arabia’s urban landscape through AI.

NEOM, a next-level smart city using cognitive technology to shape future urban living, is being built in north-west Saudi Arabia. NEOM’s CEO Nazmi Al-Nasr told the summit that AI was the “beating heart” of the project and will play a critical role in The Line, a revolutionary transportation system that will run wholly on renewable energy, eliminating the need for roads. The summit hosted the NEOM AI Challenge to encourage creators and innovators in the field. The Summit also staged the AI Artathon, the first competition to create awareness of AI through art. Competitors at the AI Artathon were challenged to create art using AI to highlight the potential of artificial intelligence in stimulating creativity. 

Saudi Arabia enhanced its global reputation for excellence in AI by striking a host of partnerships with global companies. SDAIA has partnered with IBM to use AI to accelerate Saudi’s circular carbon economy. An SDAIA memorandum of understanding with Halliburton will develop use of AI in the oil and gas industries. The Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence announced a joint venture with Hong Kong-based SenseTime to build an AI lab to train Saudis working in healthcare, education and other fields. The Saudi Electricity Company signed MoUs with Microsoft, Udacity and DataRobot to enhance AI skills in its sector.

Google is a major partner. SDAIA is combining with Google Cloud, the Climate Engine Foundation and Saudi’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture to use AI to tackle climate change by addressing such issues as pollution control, sustainable agriculture and water security. 

In a separate initiative that aims to empower women pursuing careers in AI, SDAIA and Google Cloud agreed to collaborate in training 25,000 women on a four-month AI education program. The agreement was celebrated at the Global AI Summit by HH Princess Haifa Al Mogrin, Saudi Arabia’s permanent delegate to UNESCO. “It is truly a brilliant achievement to empower women to pursue careers in AI and to increase their participation to create a gender-inclusive world for generations to come,” she said. 

AI has a new global hub in Saudi Arabia and everyone can benefit.