RIYADH: Combining the use of artificial intelligence with social responsibility has huge potential to create a better world, the president of the Saudi Data and AI Authority has said.
Speaking at the two-day Global Corporate Social Responsibility Forum in Riyadh, Abdullah Al-Ghamdi said that by harnessing the power of AI, fundamental changes could be seen in education, health, humanitarian efforts and environmental sustainability.
At the event, themed “From Commitment to Impact” and which ended on Tuesday, he highlighted several of the authority’s initiatives. These included the Elevate program, to train 25,000 women; the International AI Olympiad, with participants from 25 countries; and ALLaM, the first Saudi AI system to answer questions in Arabic.
In the health arena, he talked about “Eyenai,” an AI tool developed for early diagnosis of eye diseases, which helped 846 patients last year.
He also discussed efforts to empower individuals with disabilities, including those on the autism spectrum, by providing digital access to their Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development cards through the Tawakkalna app.
Al-Ghamdi mentioned the Ehsan platform which helps in the charity and volunteering sector by using AI to manage donations. This has benefited 4.8 million people, with over SR8.3 billion ($2.2 billion) raised.
Collaborating with environmental and energy ministries, the authority also applies AI to projects such as the Saudi Green Initiative’s urban afforestation, he said.
Al-Ghamdi added that by establishing the International Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Ethics in Riyadh, in partnership with UNESCO, the Kingdom was demonstrating its commitment to AI ethics.
He stressed that realizing AI’s potential required collaboration among governments, companies and individuals, with a priority on ethics and human values.
