RIYADH, 14 September: The King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language has launched the Balsam index, a tool for evaluating and measuring Arabic large language models. The launch took place on Friday during the 3rd Global AI Summit (GAIN) in Riyadh.
The Balsam index, developed in partnership with the Saudi Data & AI Authority and international collaborators, aims to “set global benchmarks for assessing AI models in Arabic language tasks,” according to a press release. It will “help assess the latest models being developed to add new features and capabilities.”
During a key session on AI models for Arabic, Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Washmi, the academy’s secretary-general, discussed language evolution. He said that while written languages have historically endured, future linguistic survival will “depend on effective AI integration.”
Al-Washmi commended the support of Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, chairman of the academy’s board of trustees, in aligning the academy’s efforts with Saudi Vision 2030’s human-development goals.
