In a step that reflects the spirit of the global cultural mission of the Emirate of Sharjah, and confirms the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, in highlighting the role of the Arabic language as a bridge for civilizational and cultural communication between peoples, the activities of the seventh session of the International Festival of Arabic Language and Culture were recently concluded in The Italian city of Milan, sponsored by the Sharjah Book Authority, organized by the College of Linguistic Sciences and Foreign Literatures and the Arabic Language Research Center at the Catholic University, under the title “Language and Artificial Intelligence: A Limit to the Past or a Horizon for the Future.”
The festival was attended by Ahmed bin Rakad Al Ameri, CEO of the Sharjah Book Authority, Mario Cristina Gatti, Director of the Arabic Language Research Center at the University, Muhammad Khalaf, Director General of the Sharjah Radio and Television Authority, and Dr. Ahmed Safi Al Mosteghanemi, Secretary General of the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah, and 35 researchers from 18 countries participated in the festival sessions, including 9 Arab countries: the Emirates, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, Yemen, and Palestine, in addition to Turkey’s attendance for the first time. Once, it also hosted 12 academics from the Catholic University in Italy.
The course sought to explore the intersections of artificial intelligence with Arabic language and culture, and highlighted main topics: “Ethics and legislation of artificial intelligence,” and its role as a translator who crosses linguistic borders, as a poet who organizes poems, and as a novelist who weaves stories. The festival also focused on the impact of artificial intelligence on language teaching, and its applications in social media, and discussed “the role of artificial intelligence in the scientific research and philosophy sector,” and its potential in “restructuring Arab heritage,” with a focus on “its impact on language and the arts,” thus enhancing The status of Arabic as a living language that interacts with modern technologies.
Pride in language
Ahmed bin Rakad Al Ameri gave a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the festival, in which he stressed that pride in one’s own language is pride in all languages. The diversity of languages is a necessity for the diversity of cultures, and it is not possible to imagine the world in one language. Because this means that cultures lose a lot of beauty and incentives for learning and discovery, highlighting the major project led by His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, which is the historical dictionary of Arabic, of which 67 volumes have been published to date covering 15 of the 28 letters of the Arabic language.
Al-Amiri said: “Artificial intelligence is present on the agenda of this festival, coupled with literature, poetry and translation, which constitutes fertile material for discussion. Here it must be pointed out that all modern inventions are the fruits of language and culture, and are nothing but an attempt to emulate real life.”
In turn, Dr. Wael Farouk, Director of the Festival, said: “Participants in this year’s session present ideas on the topic (Language and Artificial Intelligence: A Limit to the Past or a Horizon for the Future), as witnessed by the opening session presented by Mario Cristina Gatti, Director of the Arabic Language Research Center at the University, Launching the first Italian translation of the poetry of the Mu’allaqat, which is considered one of the most famous classical texts in the history of Arabic poetry. It is a translation presented by Jolanda Guardi, and it presents a poetic reading by the Iraqi poet and translator Kazem Jihad on the occasion of the publication of his collection of poems in the Italian language.
The festival devoted sessions on the digitization of Arabic, artificial intelligence and imagination, artificial intelligence and translation, with the participation of Dr. Muhammad Safi Al Mosteghanemi, Secretary General of the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah, who reviewed the emirate’s experience in collecting and publishing the largest historical dictionary of Arabic as a successful example of digitization. The translators Muhammad Haqqi Sushin, Samir Greiss, and Naglaa Wali raised questions about the capabilities of artificial intelligence as a translator of literary texts, the role of literary translators in the age of artificial intelligence, and the ways in which literary translation can benefit from artificial intelligence.