MBZUAI has launched "WAI", a community initiative to provide youth and senior citizens with a foundational understanding of AI and its applications. The inaugural event hosted over 30 youth and 15 senior citizens at MBZUAI’s campus for a day of learning and discussion. The program includes interactive sessions and hands-on activities in prompt engineering, with all participants receiving certificates of completion. Why it matters: This initiative promotes AI awareness across generations and aligns with the UAE’s Year of Community 2025, fostering inclusivity and shared learning in the digital age.
MBZUAI's Women in AI (WAI) club, founded by master’s students Asma Hashmi and Ameera Bawazir, aims to increase female representation in AI at MBZUAI and the UAE. The club aligns with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, addressing the underrepresentation of women in AI globally (22%). MBZUAI reports 31% female students in its first cohort and hopes to increase this, supported by faculty like Prof. Najwa Aaraj. Why it matters: This initiative highlights efforts to close the gender gap in AI within the UAE's leading AI university, fostering a more inclusive and diverse tech ecosystem.
WAM (Emirates News Agency) and MBZUAI have signed a strategic agreement to collaborate on media and AI, knowledge sharing, training, and development. MBZUAI will be the Strategic Academic Sponsor of the Global Media Congress organized by ADNEC and WAM in November 2022. MBZUAI will also provide WAM employees with seats in its Executive Program and offer consultancy services for establishing an AI lab at WAM. Why it matters: This partnership aims to modernize the UAE's media sector by leveraging MBZUAI's AI expertise to develop innovative media applications and support the Global Media Congress.
A senior delegation from Weizmann Institute of Science visited MBZUAI in Abu Dhabi to discuss the MBZUAI-WIS Joint Program for Artificial Intelligence Research. The AI Program, announced in February, aims to promote collaborative initiatives in fundamental AI research and explore AI applications in healthcare and genomics. The program will focus on Machine Learning, Computer Vision, NLP, Computational Biology, and Neural Sciences, with plans for researcher appointments and resources. Why it matters: This partnership strengthens the AI ecosystem in the UAE and the region, particularly in fundamental research and key application areas.
MBZUAI and the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) are deepening research ties through ongoing engagement and knowledge sharing. A delegation from MBZUAI visited WIS to discuss collaboration across a range of research projects overseen by a joint review board. The partnership, formalized in 2021 through the MBZUAI-WIS Joint Program for Artificial Intelligence Research, focuses on advancing research in natural and machine intelligence. Why it matters: This collaboration strengthens the AI research ecosystem in the region and leverages expertise from both institutions to develop AI technologies for societal benefit.
Akhil Arora from EPFL presented a framework for AI-assisted knowledge navigation, focusing on understanding and enhancing human navigation on Wikipedia. The framework includes methods for modeling navigation patterns, identifying knowledge gaps, and assessing their causal impact. He also discussed applications beyond Wikipedia, such as multimodal knowledge navigation assistants and multilingual knowledge gap mitigation. Why it matters: This research has the potential to improve information systems by making online knowledge more accessible and navigable, especially for platforms like Wikipedia that serve as critical resources for global knowledge sharing.
NYU Abu Dhabi and MBZUAI researchers have developed ARWI, a free web application to help Arabic language learners improve their writing skills in Modern Standard Arabic. ARWI provides essay prompts aligned with CEFR skill levels, features an Arabic text editor, and gives personalized feedback. The tool won the Diversity Award at the Workshop on Intelligent and Interactive Writing Assistants (In2Writing). Why it matters: This tool can help preserve the quality and personal voice of Arabic writing amid the rise of LLMs.