Human Trust in AI Technology
There is a stark difference between the extent to which Arab countries are progressing in artificial intelligence and related fields and technologies, and countries that are rapidly leapfrogging on a large scale and looking forward to future competition with adults, and others that are still figuring it out.
The ability of many Arab countries to compete between the fiscal savings of some countries and the creative thinking that international corporations rely on and benefit from greatly requires more serious Arab integration in these sectors that form the basis of the future.
The latest figures for the 2023 Global AI Index show the differences between countries and the extent to which they are catching up to the “artificial intelligence” revolution that has begun in recent years.
Arab countries seem to be making various attempts and clearly want to catch up to the advanced position in the artificial intelligence competition, as evidenced by Stanford University’s recently released index, which categorizes the capabilities of a group of countries in the field of artificial intelligence globally.
The UAE ranks first in the Arab world and 28th globally, followed by Saudi Arabia, second in the Arab world and 31st globally, then Qatar at 42nd globally and Egypt at 52nd globally.
Against this backdrop, experts and analysts said in separate statements to the Sky News Arab Economy website that Arab countries have great opportunities to advance and strengthen their position in “artificial intelligence” and related fields and compete with adults, but they need to take several steps to achieve this progress.
Two classifications of Arab countries
First, Mohamed Saeed, chairman of the board of directors of IDT Consulting & Systems, explained that Arab countries can be divided into two levels in the competition in the field of artificial intelligence.
Speaking to Sky News Arab Economy, he added that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have taken important steps in the technology sector in general through initiatives to encourage entrepreneurship and are able to implement practical application projects on the ground using technology and artificial intelligence.
As for other countries, including Egypt, he said that although these countries have the elements to be the first movers in the field of artificial intelligence, they are relatively late to catch up to the advanced position, noting that their investment in technology fields such as cloud computing and mobile applications has started late compared with other previously emerging technologies and has occupied a large market share.
Saeed outlined a series of steps to help Arab countries move towards AI and future competition, most notably:
Roadmaps at different levels: It is necessary to develop a roadmap in this field led by national authorities, leading to catch the wave of modern and emerging technologies, as this may be one of the magic solutions to the economic problems and challenges that countries suffer and provide foreign exchange earnings, provided that the roadmap is clear and integrated at the level of individuals, small and large companies.
Introducing new initiatives: There is a need to introduce initiatives to encourage the industry, including, for example, tax exemptions to encourage entrepreneurship in high-risk activities, and financing initiatives to provide financing to companies operating in the industry.
Workshop: It is important to provide administration-led workshops that encourage enthusiastic individuals to enter the field, gaining results through hands-on experience and without exposing capital to risk.
Use of artificial intelligence within government agencies: Governments should support the use of AI technologies within government agencies because they are the largest customers of the technology, and the industry will not grow if businesses are not encouraged to acquire their AI products.
The role of civil society organizations: For example, chambers of commerce for information industries or divisions of information technology (as they are called in each country), because they must play a role of communicating with business, raising the level of business awareness of the technology and the ways in which the adoption of AI technology can reap economic and market returns.
global cooperation: Countries that are making progress in AI and countries that are lagging behind in this area should cooperate through people, institutions and large companies, and exchange visits to gain experience, raise awareness and help adopt such technologies.
change government thinking
In addition, David Samir, chairman of the board of directors of an Egyptian company specializing in robotic systems, confirmed in an exclusive speech on the Sky News Arab Economy website that government thinking is the basis for any country to keep up with technology and its development.
He added that “most Arab countries are witnessing government barriers, which in turn hinder people and companies”, noting that this is very evident in countries such as Egypt and Jordan, where young people, despite their intelligence, do not have the opportunity to experience it fully.
The second problem that has caused some Arab countries to be slow to catch up to advanced status in the field of artificial intelligence is that a large part of the population faces a “cultural” problem of lack of knowledge, learning and training, he said. He emphasized that in addition to the need for universities to change educational thinking, especially in some countries where educational methods are lagging behind, appropriate solutions need to be found to address this crisis.
Noting that Arab countries face enormous challenges, the most important of which are governmental and social thinking, he explained that the UAE is one of the first Arab countries to try to overcome these challenges, using existing capabilities, utilizing artificial intelligence services and working with them for the governance of government systems.
However, he does not rule out that Arab countries will become strong competitors in the field of artificial intelligence in the future stage, especially since most European countries rely on the ideas of Arabs.
Government Benefits and Financial Support
Computer science professor and information technology expert Dr. Hussein Al-Omari explained in an interview with Sky News Arab Economy that the development of information technology industries in relatively developed Arab countries relies on strong financial resources and the government’s interest in infrastructure, operating environment and government strategies, and pointed out that these countries still need to make more efforts in attracting talents and encouraging scientific research and development.
As for those countries lagging behind in catching up with “artificial intelligence”, he said they would need to substantially increase government interest, investment and trade to encourage talent, research and development, noting that some of these countries possess the elements that really qualify them to do so.
He emphasized that active cooperation between the above-mentioned Arab countries as Arab integration in this context will promote the development of all countries if investment and trade are utilized at the regional level to develop talent, research and development, establish companies and projects at the regional level, and conclude government agreements to ensure the interests of participating governments in improving infrastructure, operating environment, and government strategies.
In terms of information technology, Khyber emphasized that “in order to see improvements in talent, development, research and trade, there is a need to transfer talent and exchange R&D efforts between countries to encourage talent, development and research” and emphasized that such cooperation and work at the regional level will reduce the digital and educational gap between the people of these countries.