The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) held a first-phase workshop in preparation for drafting the Islamic World Charter for Artificial Intelligence. The outcomes of the said workshop will aid in making provisions and sharing insights on the future of AI applications and contributing to enhancing the use of modern technology in full respect of universally shared humanitarian ethics.

The workshop was held at ICESCO’s headquarters in Rabat under the supervision of ICESCO Centre of Strategic Foresight and Legal Affairs and International Standards Department on Friday 15 September 2023, under the banner “Drafting the Future of Artificial Intelligence” and with the participation of several university students, tech experts and CSOs representatives.

At the workshop’s opening, Mr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Head of the Legal Affairs and International Standards Department, stressed the importance of the ethical framework that ICESCO strives to place while developing AI tools and highlighted the need to abide by these ethical principles.

Following this, Dr. Marc-Antoine Dilhac, Director of Algora Lab and Professor of ethics and political philosophy at Université de Montréal, presented a definition of artificial intelligence, touched on the ethical and social challenges it poses and highlighted the most critical and binding ethical principles that will aid in preparing our societies to face the digital transformations, while preserving the human ability to create.

The workshop concluded with a practical part, supervised by Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Centre of Strategic Foresight and Dr. Marc-Antoine Dilhac, in which the participants were divided into four groups to formulate different visions aimed at enhancing the role of artificial intelligence in the fields of education, science, culture and human sciences and discussing ethical issues. These insights were the topic of the final session of the workshop.