Saudi Arabia seeks to influence international AI standards — Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Arabia seeks to participate in shaping international standards for artificial intelligence rather than merely applying rules developed by other countries. Saeed bin Mohammed Al-Shahrani, spokesperson for the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), said this ahead of the fourth UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, which will take place in Riyadh on September 14–17, 2026.
Responsibility for AI decisions
As Asharq Al-Awsat reports, SDAIA believes that an artificial intelligence system cannot bear legal liability for harm caused. According to the authority's position, responsibility remains with the developer and the organization operating the system.
Al-Shahrani said that traditional governance models are no longer sufficient due to the emergence of autonomous agents capable of making decisions and carrying out actions with minimal human intervention. For high-risk decisions, he said, human oversight, a clear allocation of responsibility, and documented emergency shutdown mechanisms are needed.
UNESCO Forum in Riyadh
The UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence will be held in the Arab world for the first time. More than 100 speakers will take part, including ministers, officials, experts, scientists, representatives of international organizations, the public and private sectors, as well as technology companies.
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Participants plan to take stock of five years of implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, adopted in 2021. The program includes discussions on financing AI governance systems and developing regulatory capacity, as well as a presentation of the updated RAM 2.0 readiness assessment methodology, prepared on the basis of an analysis of more than 55 reports.
Forum topics include the use of AI in public administration, healthcare and humanitarian work, youth mental health, the environment, energy, water resources, linguistic diversity, including the Arabic language, robotics, and human-machine interaction in the workplace.
Agile regulation
The SDAIA spokesperson called it an important task to turn the principles of fairness, transparency and accountability into engineering requirements, standardized tests and mandatory regulatory mechanisms. According to him, SDAIA is implementing an agile regulation approach that provides for continuous assessment and self-assessment tools for companies.
Al-Shahrani also noted that the International Center for AI Research and Ethics, ICAIRE, has been established in Riyadh under the auspices of UNESCO. The center is intended to promote the practical application of ethical principles in research, education, standards, innovation and public policy.
