Qatar Science & Technology Park’s (QSTP) ‘Meet the Expert’ series showcased advanced applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Arabic language and the benefits these bring to local businesses, particularly in research and development efforts, during their latest workshop.
Delivered by experts from iHorizons, a leading Qatari software engineering and IT consulting firm and a QSTP member company, the session shed light on the use of AI in the area of Arabic Natural Language Processing (NLP).
NLP refers to the combination of linguistics, computer science, and AI, to improve the ability of machines to understand and process human language. For example, technologies such as chatbots, virtual assistants, digital translators, and popular language models, like ChatGPT, use NLP to facilitate human-machine interaction.
iHorizons has served 95 million customers globally and provided a total of 3.7 billion digital experiences via its business solutions since the company’s inception in 1996. With a range of services focused on digital transformation, cloud computing and mobile app development, among others, the company works to empower enterprises across various industries.
Referring to Arabic language technologies, Muhammed Takriti, CEO at iHorizons, said that the company is engineering applications in the areas of generative Arabic question and answering, document summarization, and AI-powered data cleansing. Takriti underlined the company’s latest work in creating an Arabic AI model that has been trained on tax laws in the State of Qatar. The model not only generates answers to user questions but also provides accompanying references that add to the credibility of its results.
Pointing to the uniqueness of the model stating that it differs from traditional chatbots and public chat services, Takriti said: “Chatbots do not have the ability to learn or provide logical responses on their own and rely on a predetermined set of answers. Similarly, public chat services like ChatGPT do not provide specific answers, specifically in relation to laws in a country. Their responses are usually generic and extracted from online sources. iHorizons is currently testing this model for accuracy and quality.”
"Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) are having a rapidly growing impact on various businesses and organizations, and iHorizons is dedicated to bringing those advancements to the Arabic language, where we are training leading generative AI models to help address the needs of enterprises in Qatar. This will help organizations become more efficient in their work, provide new services to their clients, and improve their customer experience.
We are really excited about the potential of these new avenues and remain committed to driving exponential growth for the digital economy in our region."
Participants at the session enjoyed the exclusive opportunity to engage with some of the AI models developed by iHorizons, by posing field-specific questions and receiving AI-generated responses.
Ahmed Al Enazi, Planning and Strategic Initiative Director at QSTP, commented: “AI is rapidly transforming the business landscape and enhancing customer experiences globally and it’s really interesting for us to see how the technology is being harnessed in Qatar, by homegrown companies such as iHorizons, to secure economic and sustainable gains.”
The Meet the Expert series by QSTP, a member of Qatar Foundation, convenes local and international experts, industry leaders, academics and researchers to underline best practices and technology-driven solutions focused on areas of strategic importance to Qatar. The series aims to boost innovation and entrepreneurship to achieve Qatar’s economic diversification and sustainability-centered goals.
To learn more about the series, or stay tuned on upcoming sessions, please visit: https://qstp.org.qa/qstp-expert-series