A unified reference guide aimed at promoting the safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) today in Riyadh launched the National Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework, to be a unified reference guide for government and private entities, providing a national methodology for identifying, assessing, addressing, and monitoring risks, enabling the adoption of AI technologies in a safe and responsible manner consistent with national priorities.

The Authority's statement explained that 'the launch of the framework comes amid the rapid expansion in the use of artificial intelligence locally and globally, and the consequent emergence of risks that differ from those associated with traditional technical systems, with potential impacts on individuals, entities, and the national economy.'

SDAIA added that 'AI risks have unique characteristics, including the possibility of emerging in unexpected ways during operation, changes in system performance over time, and difficulty in interpreting their behavior or reproducing their results, necessitating an integrated methodology to manage these risks.'

Integrated Methodology and Basic Principles

The Authority stated that 'the framework adopts an integrated risk management life cycle, including context and scope identification, risk identification, assessment, treatment, and continuous monitoring and review, using a matrix that links the likelihood of risk occurrence and its impact magnitude to unify the evaluation mechanism among entities.'

The statement noted that 'the National Framework is based on seven main principles, including integrity and fairness, privacy and security, humanity, reliability and safety, transparency and explainability, accountability and responsibility, and social and environmental benefits. It also classifies risks into seven main types to ensure comprehensive identification and not overlook any essential category.'

Practical Application and Support for Vision 2030

In the same context, the framework included a practical scenario simulating a government entity's use of an AI model in preparing internal reports, and reviews the steps of identifying, assessing, addressing, and monitoring risks, to provide a practical model for entities across various sectors and digital maturity levels.

It is noteworthy that the launch of this framework is part of SDAIA's efforts to promote the responsible and safe use of AI technologies, and to enable national entities to adopt them, in support of the digital innovation ecosystem in the Kingdom, and to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.

Interested parties can view the National Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework via the following link: the National Framework link.