Early Use Of AI And Cloud Computing Technologies Will Significantly Contribute To The Sustainability Of The Education System | |
Staff Writer |
UNESCO’s official mandate calls inherently for a human-centered approach to AI. It aims to shift the conversation to include AI’s role in addressing current inequalities with regard to access to knowledge, research, and diverse cultural expressions to ensure that AI does not widen the technological divide within and between countries. The promise of “AI for all” must be one that everyone can benefit notably in terms of innovation and knowledge.
We had the opportunity to interview Saudi Arabia-based Dr. Mejdal Alqahtani, Assistant Professor at KSU as well as AI and Data Science expert who firmly believes that AI is an emerging dynamic field, where every day, every second, there is new research emerging. He also believes that AI has become a very strong tool for sustainability.
In this exclusive interview with Thirty to Net Zero, Al Qahtani shares why he believes that education in Artificial Intelligence and data sciences can further the work in, energy, the public sector, agriculture, water, and many other industries, adding much value to the end output.
Q: Who was your inspiration to study engineering and then go on to data science and get into AI technology? How did you become so passionate about this subject?
A: My bachelor’s degree was in industrial engineering and it was considered an emerging engineering field that linked management with engineering back then. At the organization, however, we wanted to optimise the performance productivity by minimising costs and maximising profit. This was the beginning of my first thought about dealing with data based on which we could analyse, gain understanding, insight and wisdom.
I was selected as one of the top students at King Saud University, and they provided me with a scholarship to continue my learning journey in the United States. As I was discovering which field to continue in, I found quality reliability engineering as the best field. I really liked it, because you need to have a good understanding of the data to have quality monitoring and control of any process. It was a very interesting field. I finished my master’s degree in Quality from Rutgers University in the United States, which is considered one of the top 25 universities worldwide.
I had the opportunity to work with two advisors, one, Prof. Elsayed, a distinguished professor in the industrial engineering department at Rutgers university and the other was Pro. Myong K. Jeong, who is full professor in industrial engineering department at Rutgers university but mainly focused on AI and machine learning applications. They advised me to get another Master’s degree in Statistic Development with specialization in data mining. So, after that, I finished my second Master's degree which I really enjoyed. When you have a good understanding of how the models can work based on Math and Statistics and all the assumptions that need to be made, it helps you have a good understanding of linking it with real-life applications.
I also studied some courses of data science and AI from an Engineering college, a computer college and a from a Statistic College. All three different colleges taught me to think from different angles. For example, at the engineering college, they were focused more on the application. They wanted to formulate the problem, get a good understanding of the problem and use technology. At the Statistics College, they focussed more on the hypothesis and once building solution needs, you need to follow some assumptions, and be careful about violating those assumptions as the solution can reflect those assumptions. So, it's very important to have a very specific procedure whenever you want to build a specific solution.
At the computer science college, they focused on building algorithms to increase accuracy and computational speed. I had to connect all of those at the same time to have a very good and comprehensive understanding of my knowledge. After I finished my second master’s degree, I started my PhD journal.
I passed the PhD qualification exam. I dealt with functional data, tabulated data, signal data, image data, and one of the emerging types of data, which is the 3d surface topography. It's a type of image which is more complex than a simple image.
We had to build a robust AI model, that was able to get this data and perform quality monitoring. So, we were looking at ways of smart quality monitoring. We had to do a 100% inspection as we inspected the whole batch and then by using the 3D surface topography and within less than a second, we could decide whether the quality is good or not. We adjusted the process parameters as well. The method was more efficient and more cost-effective.
I published four papers out of my thesis in a top journal and the work was recognized globally. This is what motivated me when I came to Saudi Arabia to explore different industries, and to spread awareness among people about the power of this technology, and other emerging technologies like cloud computing, cybersecurity, virtual reality, and augmented reality in everyday use. In the private and governmental entities, I'm trying to formulate the problem understand their business needs, and then customize this tool, to have an impact on the solution
Q: These AI technologies are very new and very futuristic but are still under development. How do you see them connecting and helping the world solve problems like climate change, and net zero whether that is through the education part of it, or whether it is through the work that you do in the real world?
A: AI technology can work very effectively, especially in the environmental sector. I worked on developing an environmental monitoring system based on AI. The goal of that system was to work on online monitoring and assess the quality of the environment including air, water, and noise. We used this project to work with the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture in Saudi Arabia. In the project, we had to first collect data, to monitor the air. Once we got the data, we had a microcontroller and some sensors which were able to process and get some parameters that reflect the air quality. Once it was properly processed then we fed it to the model which gave a good indication of the quality of air. The model was connected to a smart dashboard that helped in the prediction of what it could be the next day or the following week.
We also worked on water quality to monitor plastic in the water. For this, we built an IPS model that can detect if there is any plastic and then also detect and classify, what type of object uses computer vision. So, the goal was to have a clean water system.
In modern cities, I think the noise is becoming a very big issue. So, to monitor the noise, we set up some KPI indicators that help us to monitor the noise and to check whether the noise is acceptable or not. If it's not acceptable, we need to know the root cause. This can increase the quality of life of people.
The goal of AI is to stop something from happening and use corrective action to return things to their normal state. Vision 2030 is a very ambitious vision and everyone in Saudi Arabia is trying to follow the heart of the vision: sustainability. The Kingdom is doing great in promoting sustainability by running different projects targeting renewable energy, preservation, and protection apart from green cities. These are the kind of initiatives that they are working on since 2016, where the goal is to have a sustainable environment.
Q: How do you see education helping sustainability or Saudi Arabia achieve its goal, whether that's Saudi vision 2030 or achieving the region's goal of getting to net zero by 2050?
A: When we talk about sustainability in education, we want to start from the early level of education of primary school, elementary school, and high school, so, it becomes a part of the educational training. We must make sure the new generation is able to know all the challenges so they can be involved in any corrective action or reform. Whenever they want to use green energy, they can understand the challenges involved and make some corrective action that helps to achieve sustainability. For instance, taking steps to avoid the use of plastics and going paperless. What I noticed, especially in Saudi Arabia, is that some of the materials are not ready to be printed, so it's already available online.
Now they are using some of the smart learning management systems that fit with sustainability. When we had COVID-19, traditional education did not work as expected. It was an important thing to have the technology for students to attend the lecture virtually where they could have some interaction with the teacher, submit their projects and assignments on time, and have some discussions on board.
Q: Today you are seeing the students who are in the real world and you are familiar with the changes that the government is coming up with to incorporate what they've been doing since 2016. Where do you see the challenge or where do you see the gap that needs to be fulfilled so that the next generation is even more, better, even more, compelled and even more adapted to facing the issues or challenges that we face with sustainability?
A: There are some gaps and challenges that need to be addressed. Whenever you have a closed cycle between all the players in the game then everyone will be on the same page. We can work together to achieve specific KPIs which can be reflected in achieving productive and effective sustainability. Since I'm from the university, I meet with my students every day trying to understand their concerns so that they can have a very good understanding of what they are, what they should do, and what they should learn.
There is a gap sometimes between the universities and the market. So, they need to understand what the market means and be very well prepared so that once they finish, they can be effective and they don't have to get another certificate of additional skills, to apply.
Q: How do you think this gap can be bridged?
A: The education system needs to be updated and changed frequently. Therefore, sometimes the education system is a little late when it comes to the need of the market. We need to have industrial decision-makers be close to the decision maker at the education level to align their objectives.
I want them to teach my students the tools required and the application too, one of which is related to environmental sustainability and agriculture, and water. I want them to have a deep understanding of the technology so they can provide some innovative solutions that can have an impact on the environment. Once they have them, we want to give them confidence, give them knowledge, and the tools that help them in the implementation.
Basically, we want to make the students ready and teach them what are the challenges. One of the main challenges is the collection of data and the technology used for its collection. You need high-quality data for good pre-processing, to feed it to the model later and have very good results and outcomes. Usually, we tell them how to understand the problem and formulate the problem in the right way. This is half of the effort and then you can find the right solution that really has an impact on solving the problem.
Q: You are one of the most well-travelled people. What city has really affected you and gifted you with memories that you will never be able to forget? And why?
A: I travelled to Seattle, in the United States. I spent almost two years there. I think the people there are very interesting. Seattle is the home of Microsoft and Starbucks HQ, and I had a chance to go there. The professionals there are very friendly.
They helped me to have a good understanding of US culture. People from India, the United States, Europe, Middle East, work in the same environment with the same organizational culture. Each one has some very good input and attributes that they want to transfer to the other. This kind of environment motivates each other to work well to work effectively, have very good time management, and have a good impact that helps you to think differently, to think out of the box, and engage in critical thinking to solve some problems. Even though it’s been 10, I still have very good connections there. Though I have travelled to different cities in the state and in the world, this city has a lot of sentimental value.