2 weeks Ago By Qatar Tribune
Qatar tribune Tribune News Network Doha An exploratory session held on the first day of the inaugural BilAraby Summit – an initiative of Qatar Foundation to re-establish the Arabic language as a driver of innovation and creativity in the modern age – highlighted ‘Fanar’, which aims to protect the Arabic language in the age of artificial intelligence. Fanar is an artificial intelligence (AI) platform developed by Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) at Qatar Foundation’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Dr Mohamed Eltabakh, principal scientist at QCRI, said this project aims to revive and preserve the Arabic language in the digital age.
“With the emergence of ChatGPT in 2022, it was clear that it would have a tremendous impact across various fields, including medicine, education, health, the judiciary, and the media. This technology stood out from all its predecessors for its generative capabilities and interactive nature. “However, studies have shown that these language models, despite their sophistication, carry a significant risk of bias.
They tend to favour English over Arabic, thus reflecting Western cultures and excluding other cultures, particularly Arab and Islamic culture. Furthermore, the training methods for these models often do not align with the specific requirements and needs of Arab societies.” Dr Eltabakh explained that this is where the idea for Fanar arose.
“One of the most important goals of the project is to preserve the Arabic language and its various dialects.” According to him, studies indicate that written content in Arabic is very small as compared to English content in the digital world. “English content constitutes approximately 50 percent of the total global digital content, while Arabic content does not exceed 0.
5 percent, leading to a clear bias toward Western culture.” One of Fanar’s goals is to provide high-quality Arabic content that enhances the status of the Arabic language in the digital space. He said: “Achieving cultural compatibility is among the platform’s most important objectives as the Arabic language is not merely a means of communication; it carries Arab identity, history, culture, and values, which are fundamentally different from Western culture.
” Current AI models, including ChatGPT, do not reflect this cultural specificity, which necessitates the need for language models that understand the Arabic context and embody its values, according to him. Dr Eltabakh underlined that digital sovereignty in Arabic content is also of key importance for the platform. “Complete reliance on Western technology reduces us to mere consumers.
The Fanar project demonstrates that we can be creators of this technology and to own its tools. Ownership here is not just technical – it also encompasses sovereignty over knowledge, content, and communication.” Dr.
Eltabakh emphasized the importance of capacity building as most countries find themselves unable to build local capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence. However, the presence of Arab expertise that can develop these models, and directing them according to our needs, is of paramount importance. “Over the past year, we have achieved significant progress in this area,” he said.
He emphasized that those who own the technology own freedom of expression. “In the Palestinian crisis, for example, it has become clear that Western claims about freedom of thought and expression are merely slogans, as dissenting voices are silenced when they do not conform to the prevailing narrative.” Dr Eltabakh concluded by saying: “The Fanar project is not merely a linguistic initiative, but rather a comprehensive vision for an independent Arab digital future that reflects our culture, protects our language, and empowers us to contribute to shaping technology, rather than being victims of its biases.
” Copy 20/04/2025 10.
