Riyadh : Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ICESCO), emphasised that artificial intelligence has become a new platform for improving the quality of life, increasing job opportunities, and consolidating the pillars of effective governance, thus taking societies from sufficiency to societal creativity and promoting sustainable development.
His remarks came during the two-day International Conference on Data and AI Capacity Building (ICAN 2026), organised by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) in Riyadh, in partnership with King Saud University and the Human Capability Development Program (HCDP), in the presence of experts and specialists from more than 50 local and international bodies, to discuss the future of humanity in education and work in the age of artificial intelligence.
Dr. AlMalik highlighted the Riyadh Charter of Artificial Intelligence for the Islamic World, launched by ICESCO in partnership with SDAIA, as an ethical and strategic reference framework that guides the responsible development and use of artificial intelligence and promotes its use in the service of humanity and sustainable development, stressing that capacity building is the key to reducing development gaps.
The ICESCO Director-General called on the ministries of education of Member States to adopt educational plans that incorporate artificial intelligence technologies into educational curricula, while including the principles of the Riyadh Charter with its ethical foundations.
