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 Framework for AI Risk Management, as a unified reference guide for government and private entities, providing a national methodology for identifying, assessing, treating, 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 of AI use locally and globally, and the resulting 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 for managing these risks."

Integrated methodology and basic principles

The authority stated that "the framework adopts an integrated risk management lifecycle, including context and scope definition, 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 assessment mechanism across entities."

The statement indicated that "the National Framework is based on seven key 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 includes a practical scenario simulating a government entity using an AI model in preparing internal reports, and reviews the steps of identifying, assessing, treating, and monitoring risks, providing a practical model for entities across various sectors and digital maturity levels.

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

Interested parties can view the National Framework for AI Risk Management through the following link: the National Framework link.