Manuscript Heritage and Machine Learning: Algorithmic Wisdom from Ancient Libraries
Centuries of scholarly rigor from Timbuktu to Fez provide invaluable mathematical and philosophical models for contemporary artificial intelligence.
Read the articleسلام · SALAM · حكمة · WISDOM · HUMANITY
Beyond Artificial Intelligence, Towards Humanity.
Rooted in Humanity.
A media, research and public-education initiative opening up AI knowledge to everyone.
From the House of Wisdom in BAGHDAD to the great libraries of TIMBUKTU
أحدث المقالات LATEST ARTICLES
Latest Articles
Beyond Data Extraction: Building Culturally Sovereign AI Infrastructures
True technological autonomy requires local data stewardship rooted in historical dignity rather than extractive global paradigms.
Read the article
Restoring Epistemic Justice in Large Language Model Architecture
Current artificial intelligence models often erase non-Western intellectual traditions. Rebuilding foundational architectures on Arab-African scholarship offers a path toward true algorithmic equity.
Read the articleالإرث الفكري THE INTELLECTUAL LEGACY
Our Heritage
Long before Silicon Valley, our ancestors were already building some of the richest knowledge ecosystems the world had seen.
22
ARAB NATIONS
54
AFRICAN NATIONS
2B+
PEOPLE. ONE CONVERSATION.
700K+
TIMBUKTU MANUSCRIPTS
25 000
STUDENTS AT SANKORÉ, AT ITS PEAK
700 000+
MANUSCRIPTS SURVIVING TODAY
40+
BOOKS AUTHORED BY AHMAD BABA ALONE
الضرر WHY THIS MATTERS
The Harms We Are Responding To
These are not oversights. They are what happens when technology is built without us in the room.
34.7%
Facial Recognition Bias
Some of the most widely deployed facial recognition systems carry error rates as high as 34.7% on dark-skinned faces.
400M+
A Language Treated as "Low-Resource"
Arabic is spoken by more than 400 million people, yet is still treated as a low-resource language by the systems built to govern it.
⚕
Medical AI Trained Elsewhere
Medical AI trained on Western bodies is deployed on ours — a mismatch with real consequences for diagnosis and care.
أصوات DIALOGUES & PODCAST
Whose Future? — Our Future
A North–South dialogue on AI, power and possibility, led by Maha Jouini and Dr. Julia Stamm — exploring who gets to imagine, design, govern and benefit from our technological future.
Maha Jouini
Founder, HIKMA AI
Dr. Julia Stamm
Founder & CEO, She Shapes AI
الرؤية CORE OBJECTIVES
The HIKMA Vision
HIKMA AI bridges AI and philosophy, technology and ethics, innovation and social justice, global debates and local realities.
01
Democratize AI Knowledge
Turning complex AI research and policy debates into accessible, human-centred content — in language that speaks to people, not only to specialists.
02
Promote Ethical, Human-Centred AI
Encouraging AI governance rooted in dignity, inclusion and social responsibility — because intelligence without ethics is only power.
03
Amplify Global South Perspectives
Building a platform where African, Arab and marginalised voices shape the conversation on technology and the future.
04
Build Critical Thinking Around Technology
Helping audiences read the political, economic and cultural implications of AI systems.
05
Support Vulnerable Communities
Advocating for AI systems that protect women, youth, displaced people and those living with chronic illness.
06
سلام · Peace & Governance
Salam is not the absence of conflict — it is the presence of justice, and the long memory of peoples who know what is lost when peace fails.
Technology must serve dignity instead of domination, wisdom instead of exploitation — and collective human flourishing instead of exclusion.
MAHA JOUINI · HIKMA AI
DEVELOPED UNDER
ITAUN
Salam AI is incubated within ITAUN — the African Platform for Networking and Innovation — as a research initiative dedicated to responsible AI for social impact.
Together, HIKMA AI and ITAUN work toward AI that serves wisdom, dignity, social cohesion and inclusive digital transformation across Africa and the Arab region.