Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Basma Hamdy [afikra Conversations]
What does the post-AI era hold? And what do these kinds of conversations look like in the context of the Arab world? In this captivating conversation, Basma Hamdy sheds light on everything AI and the Arab world, from ethics to art. What are ownership, originality and intellectual ownership? How will AI impact the visual arts? How are ethics going to be re-defined? Why is Arabic-language processing lagging behind? And what does algorithmic bias have to do with it?
Basma delineates between the pre and post-AI worlds, pressing for an adaptation of our principles and ethical frameworks that takes the changing landscape into account. We reflect on the influence of Western modernity on the region’s ethics and how collaboration and cooperation may be re-centered in this new AI age. As well as on what skills are going to be lost and gained for the AI-native generation.
Basma Hamdy is an assistant professor of Graphic Design at VCUarts Qatar. She is a research-based designer, author and educator producing work that bridges historical, political and social issues with archival, documentarian, participatory and critical mechanisms. She collaborated with Don Karl to research and document the creative output of the Egyptian Revolution in the book “Walls of Freedom: Street Art of the Egyptian Revolution”. She is currently working on her second book, Found Khatt, in collaboration with Noha Zyed, which documents found typography across Egypt. The Qatar Foundation is a not-for-profit organization which brings together centers and programs focused on education, research and innovation, and community development.
About Conversations
afikra Conversations is our flagship program featuring long-form interviews with experts from academia, art, and media who are helping document and/or shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community still walks away with new found curiosity - and maybe some good recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into head first.
