Middle East bets on AI research to strengthen its universities

Focusing on artificial intelligence research can help the Middle East expand its higher education sector and retain talent as it seeks to differentiate itself from the “Luddite” West, experts have said.

With the region looking to develop its knowledge economy as it moves away from oil, countries including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have made major strides in AI research.

AI has both political and economic backing in the region and is benefitting from the Gulf States’ geographic links with China and the US, said Christopher Davidson, an expert in Middle Eastern politics and fellow at the European Centre for International Affairs, who added that the Middle East is aiming to become a “bridge between Western and Asian AI”. 

He noted that the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi is a “pioneering” institution in the region which “deserves credit” for establishing a “visionary” AI presence.

Although the Neom giga project in Saudi Arabia – envisioned as a sustainable city in the middle of the desert – has been hugely scaled back, scholars have pointed out that the project and its accompanying university can still be successful by becoming a hub for AI development.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have growing youth populations, and traditionally many of their brightest students have gone to study abroad, which is driving universities to modernise and improve their rankings positions and reputations to “shield against any brain drain”, said Davidson.

In contrast, institutions in the West have a “Luddite” mentality, he said. “The key difference to the West – where there’s this sort of dance going on where everyone pretends they have no interest in AI, or that it’s cheating and not to be used – is that almost everyone is using it within the Gulf States and it’s becoming embedded in curriculum,” he said.

Consequently, Davidson said he believes the Middle East can become a “West Asian hub, where they have the capital to invest and the infrastructure to become a major AI infrastructure hub”.

Mowafa Househ, professor in health informatics at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, said there is a “hyper excitement” in the region around its AI capacities, and he hopes it can “build on the momentum that’s happening in the region”.

Househ, who is also co-developer of the Human-Inspired Knowledge by Machine Agents, which aims to support academic research with AI, said there is a culture of innovation in the region, explaining that he is looking to develop the world’s first AI-powered university after hosting the world’s first AI-powered academic conference, which was produced entirely by the technology.

He added that Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy – which aims to diversify its economy beyond oil – as well as the war in Gaza, has prompted a desire to “decouple” from the West, and for Middle Eastern universities to “be our own agents of change” without having to rely on Western institutions for resources and clout.

Although he does not believe the Gulf states are yet in a position to rival the likes of the US and China, Househ believes that the Arab region could rival and outstrip the research output of Canada and Europe. 

He agreed that the region has witnessed a brain drain, with many researchers and graduates establishing start-ups in places like the US but believes this will change. “As we move away from these oil-based and resource-based rich economies to a more knowledge economy, I think more people will stay and the ecosystem will be built to help support local innovators,” he said.

Annalisa Pavan, an independent researcher and consultant on Saudi Arabia, noted that the country has a target to rank among the top 15 countries for AI, which means it requires “a very strong HE system where universities, both public and private, [to] play a strategic role, especially in transforming the workforce and the R&D sector”.

But she raised concern over the growing role of private universities in Saudi Arabia, and noted that although foreign campuses, including the University of New Haven, “will offer programmes that help make Saudi Arabia a global leader in AI”, these institutions will be “private and expensive”. 

“Are Saudi public universities ready to face competitive foreign private universities?” she questioned.