MBZUAI and the UNDP have partnered to advance the use of AI for sustainable development, with MBZUAI becoming the founding knowledge partner for the UNDP’s AI for Sustainable Development Platform (AI4SDP). The partnership, formalized at the World Governments Summit 2024, will focus on environmental resilience, water resources management, climate adaptation, social cohesion, and reducing inequalities. MBZUAI will contribute climate research, use cases, and scenarios to the AI4SDP for implementation in the real world. Why it matters: This collaboration signifies a commitment to leveraging AI for addressing critical global challenges and sustainable development goals in the Arab region.
Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will host a workshop on using artificial intelligence to solve development problems. The workshop aims to bring together experts and practitioners to explore AI applications. It will focus on identifying opportunities for AI to address challenges in various sectors. Why it matters: This event signals growing interest in leveraging AI for social good and development across the Arab region.
MBZUAI Professor Fakhri Karray delivered a talk on advances in operational AI, highlighting its potential to grow global GDP by 15% by 2025. He discussed AI's impact on IoT, self-driving machines, virtual assistants, and other fields. Karray outlined milestones in AI, achievements in operational AI, future directions, and challenges for safe and beneficial AI. Why it matters: The presentation underscores MBZUAI's role in shaping the discourse around AI's transformative potential and ethical considerations in the region.
Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) is hosting a workshop focusing on the role of precision technologies and AI in advancing sustainable development goals. The workshop aims to explore how AI can optimize resource management, improve environmental monitoring, and enhance the efficiency of sustainable practices. It will bring together researchers, policymakers, and industry experts to discuss challenges and opportunities in leveraging AI for sustainability. Why it matters: This workshop highlights the increasing focus on using AI to address critical sustainability challenges in the region and globally.
Sai Praneeth Karimireddy from UC Berkeley presented a talk on building planetary-scale collaborative intelligence, highlighting the challenges of using distributed data in machine learning due to data silos and ethical-legal restrictions. He proposed collaborative systems like federated learning as a solution to bring together distributed data while respecting privacy. The talk addressed the need for efficiency, reliability, and management of divergent goals in these systems, suggesting the use of tools from optimization, statistics, and economics. Why it matters: Collaborative AI systems can unlock valuable distributed data in the region, especially in sensitive sectors like healthcare, while ensuring privacy and addressing ethical concerns.
Researchers developed a two-stage AI pipeline to predict desalination performance efficiency losses due to climate factors in the UAE, achieving 98% accuracy. The model forecasts aerosol optical depth (AOD) and uses it to predict desalination efficiency, incorporating meteorological data. A dust-aware control logic was developed to optimize plant operations, and an interactive dashboard was created for decision support.
MBZUAI's Qirong Ho and colleagues are developing an Artificial Intelligence Operating System (AIOS) for decarbonization, aiming to reduce energy waste in AI development. The AIOS focuses on improving communication efficiency between machines during AI model training, as inefficient communication leads to prolonged tasks and increased energy consumption. This system addresses the high computing power demands of large language models like ChatGPT and LLaMA-2. Why it matters: By optimizing energy usage in AI development, the AIOS could significantly reduce the carbon footprint of AI technologies in the region and globally.