Sharjah 24: Sponsored by the Sharjah Book Authority, the Arabic Language Academy (ALA) in Sharjah participated in the "International Festival of Arabic Language and Culture" in Milan, Italy, with the theme "Language and Artificial Intelligence: Constraint to the Past or Horizon to the Future". The festival was organised by the Faculty of Linguistics and Foreign Literature and the Arabic Language Research Centre at the Catholic University.

Mohammed Hassan Khalaf, member of Sharjah's Board of Trustees and Director General of the Sharjah Broadcasting Authority, and Mohammed Safi Al Mosteghanemi, Secretary-General of the Arabic Language Academy (ALA) in Sharjah, were among the notable guests who attended the ALA. Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri chairs the Sharjah Book Authority.

One of the festival's panels, "Digitalization Efforts of the Arabic Language," brought together 35 scholars from 18 different nations. The seminar was delivered by Dr Mohammed Safi Al Mosteghanemi and was titled "The Historical Lexicon of the Arabic Language and Artificial Intelligence." 

Speaking on the topic of "Ancient Philology and the Digitalization of Humanities," Dr Walid Ghali of London's Aga Khan University was joined by Dr. Maria Teresa Zanola of the Catholic University, president of the European Language Council (CEL/ELC), in a lecture.

The "Historical Lexicon of the Arabic Language" project was a success, thanks to His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi's (a Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah) tireless efforts to promote Arabic language and culture. Dr Al Mosteghanemi lauded these efforts. 

Dr Al Mosteghanemi made the point that the lexicon is dependent on an AI system that helps people understand Arabic better, helps computers process and analyse data more effectively, and helps machines connect intelligently with databases that include Arabic language information.

Al Mosteghanemi also said that because many Arabic terms and structures are common, the language is well-suited for machine processing and could soon reach advanced levels. 

He pointed out that "many of the data and texts fed into computers are written in contemporary, colloquial, and foreign-influenced language, from journalism, media, and modern literature." This is one of the most significant issues with AI-related language.