Emirati develops AI to capture nation's culture and heritage with detail and accuracy

Advanced AI platform highlights UAE customs, landmarks and attire with precision

A media manager has responded to the lack of Emirati culture in the artificial intelligence space by designing custom-built software that accurately represents the UAE's traditional dress, cultural landmarks and Arabic heritage.

Abdulla Alsharhan, creative service manager at Shams Media, spent two years developing “Create with Shams” in Sharjah Media City to accurately demonstrate to his Korean business partners the Emirati culture . It uses 12k images to give far more detail and clarity than similar AI technologies and incorporates the Arabic language and style.

“Our model understands the Arabic traditions, culture, look and feel,” he told The National. “Other AI services can give you quality but you cannot print [it large enough to display on] a building, it's a very small image. We can create a 12K image where we can print it over two buildings, not only one.”

One example of the AI being used in the UAE is with Al Fayy Restaurant & Cafe for an advert where images generated by the software were made into a video. The printing feature, meanwhile, is useful for advertisers, creatives, and companies who want to use an AI-generated image to promote their brand or product on a physical building.

Why it stands out

The platform supports creatives by providing authentic representations of Emirati culture and UAE attractions when suitable images are unavailable online.

“Other AI services can't create the Emirati outfit and our attractions well, and they don't understand the Arabic phrases written in English. Ours does all of that,” Mr Alsharhan added. “The AI will draw a unique image of a person wearing the kandura, for example. It knows the exact details.”

To ensure the product's viability, he worked with 1,700 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to test it. The platform also includes blocking measures to ensure it remains child-friendly, preventing users from creating inappropriate images.

When The National went down to test the software, Mr Alsharhan demonstrated how it can be used to completely change a person's appearance by deleting and replacing parts of the image based on a prompt.

He started by taking some photos of Andy, our multimedia producer, and then instructed the AI platform to turn him into Elvis Presley. The end result was a high-quality photo of Andy, indeed, as Elvis Presley.

Another feature of the AI is that it can replace the background of any object by isolating it against another background. This process saves time from creating the image from scratch on photo-editing applications.

Abdulla Alsharhan works on AI-generated images of people and locations within the UAE. Photo: Abdullah Alsharhan

Can you create your own personalised AI model?

If someone wanted to create their own AI software, Mr Alsharhan advised trying it locally without publishing it online in the beginning to experiment with it. “Developing your own data and collecting your own images can help you recreate whatever is in your imagination as soon as possible,” he said.

“I would always emphasise, even with my employees; make mistakes, because mistakes made me learn how to create my own platform because I had to create something complicated.”

At the moment, people can create their images by visiting Sharjah Media City, but an online version is under way. In the near future, users will also be able to prompt the platform in Arabic.

The UAE Council for Artificial Intelligence aims to advance the country as a world leader in the AI sector by implementing The UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence by 2031.

In 2017, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, appointed Omar Al Olama as Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence. The UAE remains the only country to appoint a minister for AI.