AI drives new momentum for fostering the Arabic language

Experts at the Knowledge Summit 2025 highlighted how rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) present an unprecedented opportunity to elevate and preserve the Arabic language. Speaking during a session titled “Arabic Language and Artificial Intelligence: Indicators, Applications, and Prospects,” panelists emphasised that progress depends on building a strong linguistic and knowledge-based infrastructure that integrates research institutions, technical models and trusted data resources.

Building a Unified Linguistic Ecosystem

Athir Al-Khalifa, Director of Labs at the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language (KSGAAL), said modern Arabic linguistic systems require more than advanced technologies — they demand reliable datasets and strong institutions capable of developing large-scale language models.
She highlighted the Center for Arab Intelligence, launched last April, which features five specialised labs covering phonetics, virtual reality and research. The centre also offers cooperative training programmes for university students, who have already contributed to developing mini language models, research papers and digital platforms.
Al-Khalifa stressed that integrating these efforts across the Arab world will help establish a unified ecosystem capable of supporting advanced AI applications.

Establishing a Benchmark for Arabic AI Models

Rawan Almaatham, Director of Research and Innovation at KSGAAL, discussed the development of the BALSAM Index, an Arabic LLM evaluation tool created in partnership with ten institutions. First conceptualised in Singapore in 2023, the index aims to unify dispersed initiatives and offer a trusted standard for assessing the accuracy and quality of Arabic AI models.
She noted that the BALSAM Index plays a critical role at a time when social media platforms are crowded with inaccurate or misleading content, making the need for credible references more urgent than ever.

Preserving 1,500 Years of Linguistic Heritage

Dr. Abdullah bin Yahya Al Faifi, Head of the Linguistic Computing Sector at KSGAAL, underscored the historical significance of Arabic as a primary vessel of global knowledge for more than 1,500 years. He explained that the language’s rich morphological and semantic structure positions it well for continued knowledge generation in the AI era.
However, he warned that a shortage of Arabic linguistic data remains a major barrier. Arabic currently represents only about 3% of online content, and the limited documentation of dialects further complicates AI development.
To address this, KSGAAL has built a spoken corpus covering 54 documented Arabic dialects and more than 2,500 hours of audio, offering a valuable resource for researchers and AI developers alike. Dr. Al Faifi also pointed out that the shortage of specialised talent in computational linguistics and AI remains a critical challenge requiring long-term investment.