BEIRUT, Lebanon — A hint of freedom? That’s the headline from my visit this week to Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, and a day spent traveling the country’s fabled Bekaa Valley.
I participated as a technologist and media person in the festival ‘Un Vent de Liberté’ an extraordinary convening marking the centenary of L’Orient-Le Jour, the leading French-language news organization in the country.
Our contribution, highlighting recent research from Center for News, Technology & Innovation – CNTI to the gathering, which also featured a conversation with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and a fireside chat by former French president Francois Hollande, focused on Artificial Intelligence and its impact on society in general and the Mideast in particular.
More on that below.
But first, a word about this ‘hint of optimism’ — a key takeaway from many conversations with political and government officials as well as diplomats, NGO leaders and journalists. Good ones.
Relative stability in the Lebanese coalition government combined with progress in disarming the Iranian-backed Hezbollah military is leading to sentiment that if things are not yet substantially improved, at least they have stopped worsening.
While anyone familiar with global affairs and the Mideast particularly would be wise to be cautious, the current feeling of tentative hope is an important change and noteworthy step forward.
Prime Minister Salam said as much in the brightly chandeliered and exceptionally air-conditioned reception room of Grand Sérail, the Ottoman Palace that is his headquarters. Lebanon’s still relatively new premier told us he quit heading The International Court of Justice in The Hague seven months ago to return to his native Lebanon to lead its multi-faith, multi-cultural government because of a ‘window of opportunity (to achieve) reforms’ to assure Lebanon’s success. Former French Premier Hollande joked that he came to Beirut to learn ‘how to operate in a successful governing coalition’, a teasing reference to France’s choppy political waters.
While the visit was ‘extraordinary’ — a word so often used it almost always is a trite exaggeration — here, I’d argue, it is not.
And it would be wonderful if it could simply become ‘ordinary’ to travel to Lebanon and its countryside, especially to the strikingly beautiful Bekaa (whose dry brown hills and flat plain recall California’s Central Valley) and the remarkable temples of antiquity at Baalbek, larger physically and in some ways better preserved than Athens’ Parthenon.
I won’t diminish potential riskiness; beyond the checkpoints manned by the Lebanese army, Hezbollah remains a visible and potent political and civic force particularly in the Bekaa. Obviously there is the overlay of the Gaza conflict. During the days preceding and following our visit, Israeli warplanes bombed suspected Hezbollah strongholds on the foothills that run alongside the Bekaa, as well as Nabatiyah in the Shouf Mountains to the south.
Dangers, both perceived and genuine, caused the festival to be postponed several times in the past years. This year actually marks the news organization’s 102nd year, but let’s not quibble: Any news organization is celebrating over a century longevity is a remarkable achievement, and a reflection of the strength of CEO Nayla De Freige and team. Still, nothing and no one presented any risk to our small group, who were among just a handful of visitors we saw in Bekaa.
Back to the AI panel, because developments in global technology are widely recognized at the center of this fragile optimism. While panel leader French newsman and L’OlJ board director Ludovic Blecher cited widespread agreement that enthusiasm surrounding AI and its impact is hyped, there was also agreement – as well as many questions — about the profound impact on economics, business and civic society.
Fellow panelist, American University of Beirut Computer Science Professor Fatima Abu Salem made the point that the absence of verifiable and trustworthy ‘big data’ in the region is an important factor that can diminish and imperil the value of AI and its large language models in the Lebanon and more widely in the global south.
Artificial Intelligence, she said, thus cannot be any sort of panacea for nations that need to make progress on fundamental building blocks of inequality access to technology and resources. This, she added (and I agree) is an under appreciated problem. Moreover, when the core learning data is suspect, the output will also be suspect.
Innovation expert Kristen Davis spoke of her experience as de-mining NGO APOPO begins to explore AI as an accelerant to its ‘hero-rat’ mine-detecting rodents. Kristen made the point that AI has the prospect of improving lives in the region, if it is deployed intentionally and used wisely.
On behalf of CNTI, I presented our most recent #Briefing:AI Literacy and Communication which focuses on the intersection of AI and Journalism. To me, it seems inevitable that AI – regardless of its hazards – will offer opportunities both for cost reduction and revenue growth. It is a genie that will be impossible to return to a ‘bottle.’
There is much more to say, and I will find a way to say it. But I left Beirut and Lebanon with a greater appreciation of the strides made thus far and the work ahead to make the ‘hint of freedom’ a firmer reality.
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Baalbek, Bekaa Valley, books, history, Lebanon
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