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Abu Dhabi Media Features First Arabic Speaking AI News Anchor in the World

posted on: Apr 30, 2019

SOURCE: YAHOO FINANCE

Leading Partnership with Sogou

Al Kaabi: “This step aligns with the company’s strategic plans which seek to keep up with digital advances”

Al Olama: “A qualitative leap forward within the media landscape in the UAE and the wider region”

ABU DHABI, United Arab EmiratesApril 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Abu Dhabi Media (“ADM” or the Company), one of the fastest growing, multi-platform media and entertainment organizations in the Middle East and Sogou Inc. (SOGO), an innovator in search and a leader in China’s internet industry, today jointly announced the development of the first AI News Anchor that will present news in Arabic and English on ADM’s channels. This cements ADM’s ongoing efforts to utilize the latest technologies and Sogou’s leading AI capabilities. It follows the partnership agreement signed between ADM and Sogou, in cooperation with the UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence. The AI News Anchor is the first Arabic-speaking in the world with the ability to interact through face expressions with the Arabic language.

This announcement was made during a special signing ceremony at ADM’s headquarters. The event was attended by His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of Artificial Intelligence. The agreement was signed by His Excellency Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Director General of ADM, and Wang Yanfeng, General Manager of Voice Interaction Technology Center of Sogou.

From left to right: Mr. Wang Yanfeng, General Manager of Sogou’s Voice Interaction Technology Center, His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of Artificial Intelligence, and His Excellency Dr. Ali Bin Tamim, Director General of Abu Dhabi Media, at the signing ceremony at ADM’s headquarters
Noura Bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of ADM, explained that this step aligns with the Company’s strategic plans which seek to keep up with digital advances in the media industry and adopt the latest available digital technologies, particularly in AI.

Noura Al Kaabi said the AI news anchor will support ADM’s efforts to provide guided and diverse content according to the highest international standards that meet the needs of the Company’s large audience base across the Arab world.

His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of Artificial Intelligence, said: “The use of artificial intelligence and technological tools in the media sector will result in a qualitative leap forward within the media landscape in the UAE and the wider region. The use of these advanced solutions will benefit the industry by enriching media content, supporting media research, and providing new opportunities for young professionals to build new skillsets suited to future media channels. The deployment of this advanced technology presents us with the opportunity to further define the future of the sector in a way that benefits all members of society.”

“These new developments within the media sector are in line with the UAE Government’s strategy of developing unique new models and systems built around artificial intelligence and advanced technologies that support the nation’s transformation into a knowledge based society and economy,” added H.E. Al Olama.

Incorporating the industry-leading algorithms and latest advances in speech synthesis, image detection and deep learning, the AI news anchor presents a lifelike resemblance of a professional human anchor, providing an increasingly seamless experience for viewers. With Sogou’s technology, textual input can be transformed into corresponding lip movements, providing users with a highly customizable interactive experience. With a focus on natural language processing and machine learning, Sogou has developed industry-leading capabilities in real-time audio and video synthesis. Together, ADM and Sogou are working to explore how technological innovation can be better integrated across media platforms, providing high quality programming for audiences worldwide.