Doha, Qatar: Qatar is guided by its National Vision 2030 and is emerging as a global AI powerhouse. With the hosting of World Summit AI Qatar 2024 the country is set to solidify its place as a pivotal player in the international AI arena.
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of World AI Summit Qatar 2024, Yazen Al Safi (pictured), Technology Consulting Partner at PwC Middle East highlighted the growth of AI and the initiatives taken by the country.
Regarding the launch of the Arabic Artificial Intelligence Large Language Model (LLM) Fanar recently, he said: “For the first time, we are creating an LLM that is unbiased towards Arabic content. Current LLMs are primarily trained on vast datasets, the majority of which are in English.”
“With the launch of Fanar, we are now training LLMs with Arabic language and content for the first time. I expect this LLM to bring significant value to the Arab world,” he added.
Al Safi noted that Qatar is making significant investments in infrastructure, particularly in developing data centers. These efforts include collaborations with Microsoft, Google Cloud, and the recent partnership between NVIDIA and Ooredoo. Such initiatives underscore Qatar’s ambition to remain a leading player, not just regionally but also globally.
When it comes to AI, he added, Qatar is not only building the necessary infrastructure but also implementing significant incentives to drive its programmes in AI, technology, and innovation. This includes the QR9bn ($2.5bn) in incentives announced by the state to support its development goals. Additionally, through initiatives like Startup Qatar, the country is attracting startups by providing a launchpad to establish operations in Qatar and scale up their presence in the region and neighboring markets.
Moreover, the country is introducing initiatives such as new visa programs to attract top talent, reflecting the collaborative spirit of the government in fostering a supportive ecosystem. Al Safi emphasised that this joint effort aims to ensure a frictionless process for establishing companies, enabling them to operate immediately and thrive, particularly in the tech sector.
All these initiatives are converged together to ensure “we are having the right business environment for AI companies to come to Qatar with infrastructure that are AI ready as well and the right funding mechanism to enable them to scale up and grow.”
Commenting on the challenges and opportunities of AI, Al Safi acknowledged that while some people worry about AI replacing jobs, it presents significant opportunities. “AI is not about replacing jobs; it’s about elevating us as humans. It empowers us to complete our work faster, more efficiently, and more effectively, unlocking new potential and possibilities,” he said.
Al Safi noted this is the first edition of the summit in the Middle East. “There are several topics that we are interested in and having conversations with partners, decision makers, and officials. Some of the topics are for example, agentic AI which is an interesting one on how to create an AI system that manages complex tasks on the behalf of workers. It is not about replacing workers, but about augmenting their skills because AI is an agent for efficiency and effectiveness,” he said.
The panel session entitled ‘AI and the art of decision making’ dealt with use of AI for making better decisions from big data and machine learning to natural language processing, generative, and now agentic AI leading to advancements in AI technology. It discussed the state of AI and how to use it effectively in decision making at a personal, organisational, and global scale.
He further said, “Another topic which we discussed is responsible AI. As humans by default we have a tendency towards bias. With responsible AI we can achieve some transparency and fairness in decision-making processes.”
Meanwhile the third panel that PwC participated highlighted how to prepare for the era of an augmented workforce.
