Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Chairman of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, has confirmed that Saudi Arabia is the third country in the world, after the United States and the United Kingdom, to join OECD's Artificial Intelligence Policy Observatory.

He pointed out that Saudi Arabia has placed ethics at the heart of its artificial intelligence initiatives since the establishment of SDAIA in 2019, and is still working competently on this file due to its international importance.

Al-Ghamdi made the remarks in a speech during his participation in the dialogue session to discuss the rapid technical developments to build a safe and sustainable digital space at the Internet Governance Forum held at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh.

“Saudi Arabia is one of the first countries to adopt UNESCO’s recommendations on the ethics of artificial intelligence, which is a solid framework that focuses on transparency, interpretability and accountability,” Al-Ghamdi said.

The Kingdom won the International Telecommunication Union’s World Summit on the Information Society Awards this year, he said. The “Incentive Tags for AI Ethics” initiative was launched for public and private sector institutions to encourage them to adhere to AI ethics.

The "Incentive Tags for AI Ethics" initiative also includes a package of incentives to encourage commitment and increase the reliability of AI products, Al-Ghamdi said, indicating the importance of the initiative to establish the International Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) in Riyadh under the auspices of UNESCO, which focuses primarily on policy consultations and capacity building in AI ethics.

Dr. Al-Ghamdi touched on the importance of the international report issued by UNESCO on Saudi Arabia’s readiness in the field of artificial intelligence. The report comes within UNESCO’s initiatives to support member states in measuring their readiness to adopt artificial intelligence (RAM) in ways that are consistent with ethical values ​​and recognized international standards.

"With the spread of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, we launched the guiding document for the use of generative AI tools (Generative AI Principles) directed at the public from the private and non-profit sectors as well as individuals to raise awareness on the multiple uses of generative intelligence technologies in various aspects of life," he said.

The AI ​​adoption framework was launched, which began with the establishment of data offices in 23 ministries, to expand the scope of adopting AI in related sectors.

Al-Ghamdi added that in the third edition of the Global AI Summit 2024, several major international initiatives and partnerships were announced. These include the joint launch of the International Telecommunication Union’s AI Readiness Framework, the partnership with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development to enhance the AI ​​Policies and Incidents Observatory, the launch of the Riyadh Charter for AI Ethics for the Islamic World in cooperation with ISESCO. Saudi Arabia cooperated with GCC countries and the Arab League to organize regional workshops focusing on raising awareness of ethical assessment tools for artificial intelligence.