Riyadh – A Saudi researcher has developed a robot that understands local dialect, becoming the first in the world to communicate in Arabic.
Dr. Faisal Alsarheed, Assistant Professor in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at Saudi Electronic University, researched the project and developed the robot within two years after receiving funding from the university.
He is now completing his research paper. The robot, named Mosalem, is a prototype and is being trained to build a bank of 100,000 conversations through deep learning technology.
It does not rely on translation, however.
The robot has been programmed to decline to respond if it’s not confident enough to answer a question. However, it consults with Dr. Alsarheed later on to learn how to answer tricky questions.
Dr. Alsarheed worked in collaboration with Namthaja, a local 3-D company run by Saudi engineers to design the robot.
After receiving further funding from the university, he plans to work on a second edition of the robot to develop its body parts and movement abilities.
Mosalem was recently hired by Al Majd channel and signed its first employment contract. Drafting the employment contract and including new stipulations such as holding its developer accountable for its communication was an interesting experience.
“I chose the name Mosalem because it means peaceful. Robots are sometimes perceived as threatening, such as taking over humans’ jobs. However, I oppose this theory,” said Dr. Alsarheed.
He said the Kingdom’s plans to diversify the economy and launching megaprojects such as NEOM led him to work on the project. “NEOM is a dream come true for anyone specialized in artificial intelligence. We’re currently working on building our skills to deliver the potential that NEOM promises.”