AI Projects in the Gulf Region and their Ethical Questions: An Analytical Overview
Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) has seen significant growth and development in the Gulf region in recent years. AI driven systems are increasingly utilized in personal and mission-critical applications, including medical diagnosis, autonomous vehicles, smart city infrastructure, smart manufacturing, financing, news, etc. This presentation will provide an overview of (a) the types of AI projects that have taken place in the Gulf region and (b) the main ethical questions that computer engineers, who are active in this region, usually grapple with. Recent years have witnessed several AI projects in the region that cut across a wide range of fields and sectors. With the aim of improving people’s quality of life, different AI projects engage with key sectors in society such as healthcare, transportation and finance. Examples of such projects include the “smart” robots that were introduced by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). Also research institutes and hospitals jointly work on different projects tailored to the national and regional needs of the healthcare sector, e.g., those focusing on prevailing diseases such as diabetes and genetic conditions. To show awareness of the religio-cultural context of the region, different AI projects employ AI technologies to address issues that relate to the Islamic Scriptures (Quran and Sunna) and the overall heritage of Islamic scholarship in addition to the Arabic language Arabic assistant technology, and Arabic sentiments on social media outlets. To pave the way for the second presentation in the panel, this presentation will review the key questions that computer engineers usually face during their work in the Gulf region. Some of these questions relate to the nature of AI technologies, whereas other questions are generated by the religio-cultural context of the region.
Author bio: Dr. Ala Al-Fuqaha is a professor and associate provost at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU). His research interests include the use of machine learning in general and deep learning in particular in support of the data-driven and self-driven management of large-scale deployments of IoT and smart city infrastructure and services, ethical aspects of AI deployments, Wireless Vehicular Networks (VANETs), cooperation and spectrum access etiquette in cognitive radio networks, management and planning of software-defined networks (SDN), and engineering education. He is a senior member of the IEEE, a senior member of the ACM, and an ABET Program Evaluator (PEV) and commissioner. He serves on editorial boards of multiple journals, including IEEE Communications Letters, IEEE Network Magazine, and Springer AJSE. He also served as chair, co-chair, and technical program committee member of multiple international conferences, including IEEE VTC, IEEE Globecom, IEEE ICC, and IWCMC.
Recorded Presentation | 26 April 2023
#Healthcare #Ethics #HealthcareWorkers #Qatar #UAE #Gulf Countries
