Juma Al Majid Centre Holds Seminar on Using AI to Document Heritage
The Juma Al Majid Centre for Culture and Heritage in Dubai, the Arab Administrative Development Organization of the League of Arab States, and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Culture held a seminar on Monday, the day before yesterday, entitled ‘Using Artificial Intelligence to Document Heritage’. Speakers included innovation and digital transformation consultant Dr Mohammed Khalif; Dr Rasha Al Banna, head of the Digital Arts Track at Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology; Sami A Nour, technology consultant at Cybearena; and AI engineer Medhat Abu Zeid. Dr Khalif opened with a presentation on AI applications in heritage digitisation and the challenges involved, including shortages of institutional expertise and capacity. He discussed the requirements for developing digital heritage systems, such as redesigning heritage experiences to make them more engaging and dynamic, the role of innovation, and the importance of putting user satisfaction at the centre while integrating suitable digital technology. Sami A Nour then said: ‘AI has made production and artistic creativity easier. These activities are no longer confined to designers, illustrators, artists and specialists, but are accessible to every segment of society. As a result, a major transformation is taking place in the digital world, its heritage and its archives.’ Dr Rasha discussed the different forms of digital heritage, the requirements for strengthening heritage digitisation in Arab countries, and its future prospects. She also explored AI’s impact and presented examples of Egyptian heritage digitisation projects and initiatives that use AI to harness today’s technological revolution and enrich Arab heritage. The seminar concluded with engineer Medhat Abu Zeid, who discussed his project at the American University of Sharjah on using AI to enhance old Arabic manuscripts. The Juma Al Majid Centre for Culture and Heritage supported the project by providing a large collection of digitised manuscript images.
Source: Al Ittihad