Artificial intelligence and the Arabs

Here it is necessary to draw attention to a number of important issues related to artificial intelligence and the Arabs, including that Arab societies are still highly influenced by the past, history, and identities in their various forms, including religious identity, and that the arena of the past and identity will be one of those that will witness intense battles in the space of artificial intelligence.

Another important issue is that Arab societies are still in the process of formation and development, and that the level of “liquidity” or “fluidity” (in the sense intended by the Polish-British philosopher Zygmunt Bauman) is high, as the social mobility of individuals and groups from one location to another increases, and changes Therefore, the overall image of society and its political, economic, and cultural expressions, such as the form of the state and the class that controls power, the media, and the profitable economic sectors.

Entry of satellite channels

This introduction forces us to take into account two experiences from the recent past, namely the entry of satellite channels into the media scene and the impact it had on Arab societies and the “information revolution” which includes, among other components, the famous social media platforms that now provide the tools of expression for the younger Arab generations. It plays a role whose repercussions in the near future are difficult to understand.

Satellite TV and social media

Before talking about what Arab societies have witnessed in the past few decades, it is worth remembering that the effects of previous contact with the achievements of modern technology had profound consequences. Since the advent of firearms such as rifles and cannons and then the advent of the printing press and the steam engine, the enormous advantages of using machines have been very clear.

Not only does it provide military superiority – in cases of firearms – but it also raises the level of productivity, returns and effectiveness in all areas of the economy. It was not long before the social consequences reared their heads, such as the emergence of the social division of labor and the distribution of population groups among the new means of work.

It goes without saying that one of the groups that benefited more than others from modern machines in Arab societies is the group of soldiers that employed weapons and the forms of organization necessary to use them, to ascend the ranks of power in many Arab countries.

Arab satellite channels

In a less loud but more profound way, Arab satellite channels came in the early nineties of the last century. The live coverage provided by CNN of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and then the war to liberate Kuwait, and the transmission of images of the Western bombing of Iraqi sites at the same moment it was taking place, was far more influential than the live broadcast that accompanied previous major international events such as the landing of man on the moon.

Reality, with all its cruelty and astonishment, was entering homes and imposing itself as part of the family and social climate.

After a few years, Arab satellite channels began to appear or spread their influence. Entertainment content is no less important than news or political content. It is not an exaggeration to say that many of the ideas that are still popular today date back to the period in which Arab satellite channels appeared.

Bustling life

Suddenly, the Arabs discovered that there was a bustling life going on in some of their countries. Or that the level of social liberation is not the same in all aspects. But they also discovered that they were able to understand each other, using a modern standard Arabic language that rose above the divisions of local dialects, which made news channels spread widely, especially if they carried a political narrative that differed from that promoted by traditional official media.

Second Palestinian Intifada

Events, such as the Second Palestinian Intifada, the attacks of September 11, 2001, or the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, provided a sense of unity in the face of major events in the Arab world.

After a few years, social media platforms began to dominate the space for discussing local and general Arab issues. There was a wave of movement to “Facebook”, then “Twitter”, “Instagram”, and others, as people imagined that it crossed borders and allowed the individual to express his most wild and strange opinions without being punished by social authorities such as the family, or political authorities such as the security services, before The limits of this ability should be made clear.

Bustling life

Suddenly, the Arabs discovered that there was a bustling life going on in some of their countries. Or that the level of social liberation is not the same in all aspects. But they also discovered that they were able to understand each other, using a modern standard Arabic language that rose above the divisions of local dialects, which made news channels spread widely, especially if they carried a political narrative that differed from that promoted by traditional official media.

Events, such as the Second Palestinian Intifada, the attacks of September 11, 2001, or the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, provided a sense of unity in the face of major events in the Arab world.

After a few years, social media platforms began to dominate the space for discussing local and general Arab issues. There was a wave of movement to “Facebook”, then “Twitter”, “Instagram”, and others, as people imagined that it crossed borders and allowed the individual to express his most wild and strange opinions without being punished by social authorities such as the family, or political authorities such as the security services, before The limits of this ability should be made clear.

Arab Spring revolutions

The widespread use that “social media” witnessed during the “Arab Spring” revolutions and its performance of the role of organizer, motivator, instigator, and disseminator of news and information to the masses in squares and squares has not yet been forgotten.

Before it had multiple uses and became accessible to authorities, political forces with different agendas, and terrorist groups that were active in recruiting thousands of young men to fight under the banners of extremism, fanaticism, and nihilistic projects.

The impact of satellite channels and “social media” on Arab societies is still the subject of study and thought in limited circles, and no firm ruling has emerged regarding the impact it has had and is leaving on large segments of the population, nor the damage it has caused or the benefits it has produced. However, this does not negate its overwhelming presence in the Arab present.

These two media (satellite channels and social media) have formed the space of encounter between the fluidity of Arab societies and their national, cultural, and identity diversity, and projects that embrace the unity of political narratives or “discourses.” The meeting turned into a struggle in which the one who possesses technical superiority and the ability to present his project advances. The result is clear today.

Artificial intelligence

The American writer Isaac Asimov, one of the founders of science fiction literature and his “world,” so to speak, describes a supposed encounter between two beings; The first is human, composed of ordinary atoms and molecules, where the proton carries a positive charge, and the electron a negative charge, and another is from a parallel universe consisting of “antimatter,” which is still the subject of scientific debate, and where the proton carries a negative charge, and the electron a positive one, according to what the theory says about.

Antimatter. Asimov says: “As soon as the two creatures extend their hands to shake hands with each other, a nuclear explosion occurs that destroys them and everything around them. This is because the meeting of the two matter, ordinary and antimatter, will result in an immediate nuclear reaction between particles with contradictory charges.”

End of humanity

Some workers in the field of artificial intelligence have reached the point of pessimism to the point of asserting that the matter has been decided and that the emergence of this intelligence means the end of humanity without any hesitation. Something like the interaction of normal matter and antimatter; Artificial intelligence, when it completes its independence from humans, will have its own programs, vision, values, and definition of good and evil and what is good and what is not good for the world in which it lives.

It will also have its own concerns, obsessions, and fears, which are matters that will undoubtedly differ radically from human visions, values, and definitions. It is not known whether artificial intelligence will accept us into its world and its interests will expand to humans.

In addition, the degree of “intelligence” he will reach is still unknown and it is not easy to imagine or limit the circles in which he will work.

Arabs and artificial intelligence

As mentioned above, identity, past and history play pivotal roles in Arab life. Artificial intelligence will be an open space to extract all possible and unimaginable (at least currently) conclusions and information, true and false, accurate and false, contrived and authentic, about religion, history, the past, geography, the origins of peoples, and tribal, regional, and sectarian formations.

Considering the hybrid mix of information that artificial intelligence will pour into the public circulation space, filled with graphics, video clips, and automatically synthesized sounds, will be an extremely difficult task, threatening massive chaos if clear legal and scientific frameworks are not adopted.

Disputes over copyrights for images

The emergence of a free-floating AI will bring about not only entertaining introductions to disputes over copyrights for images, graphics, and videos but also legal liability for the false information it disseminates. These headaches are already beginning to emerge, and Arabs will play a significant role in navigating the challenges posed by artificial intelligence.

“moment of 1492 AD Arabs and artificial intelligence

The “moment of 1492 AD” was in fact two moments; Only a few months passed between the discovery of the “New World” and the fall of Granada, the last Arab stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula.

The dawning of the American continent and the wealth and opportunities it brought coincided with the Arabs turning the page on their Andalusian dream, which talking about still leaves many of them with pain, and singing of its magic is still present in their songs and poems.

The question facing the Arabs today: Which of the two moments will the Arabs move towards? The moment to engage in the era or step aside to cry for a lost paradise?