Juma Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage in Dubai and the Arab Organization for Administrative Development affiliated with the League of Arab States, and the Supreme Council of Culture in Egypt organized a symposium entitled “Using Artificial Intelligence in Documenting Heritage,” in which Dr. Mohamed Khalif, Innovation and Digital Transformation Consultant, lectured. Dr. Rasha Al-Banna, Head of the Digital Arts Track at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Egypt, Professor Abdel Nour Sami, Technical Advisor at Cyberrina, and Medhat Abu Zaid, Artificial Intelligence Engineer.
The symposium began with Dr. Muhammad Khalif, who gave a presentation on the uses of artificial intelligence in digitizing heritage, and the challenges facing this use, such as the lack of competencies and capabilities within institutions, and the requirements necessary to develop digital heritage systems, such as re-engineering heritage to make it more attractive and vibrant, and the role of innovation in this process. The importance of ensuring the centrality of customer satisfaction and the integration of appropriate digital technology.
Then Abdel Nour Sami spoke, saying: “Artificial intelligence has facilitated the processes of production and artistic creativity. This concept is no longer limited only to designers, painters, artists and specialists, but has become available to all segments of society. As a result, it has produced a major transformation in the digital world, its heritage and its archives.”
In the symposium, Dr. Rasha discussed the concept of digital heritage of all kinds, the necessary requirements to enhance the digitization of heritage in Arab countries, as well as the future vision for it. It also touched on the impact of artificial intelligence on it, and presented some examples of Egyptian projects and initiatives to digitize heritage, and the use of artificial intelligence to make the most of the current revolution in order to enrich Arab heritage.
The symposium concluded with Engineer Medhat Abu Zaid, who spoke about the project he presented at the American University of Sharjah, in which he reviewed the use of artificial intelligence to improve the quality of ancient Arabic manuscripts, benefiting from the Juma Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage, which provided him with a large collection of images of digital manuscripts.
