ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) and Meta collaborated to introduce ALIF, an Urdu-based version of Meta AI, which allows people in Pakistan to communicate with the AI assistant in their own language.
This should enable Meta AI to become more accessible and inclusive for Pakistanis. The roll-out was made at the “Future in Focus: AI and Innovation” event, which was devoted to driving digital change in the nation.
The event united government stakeholders, industry leaders, and academia to speed up the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital innovation across the country.
At the event, a host of measures to empower Pakistan’s public sector and local community were also announced. Launch of ALIF enables more individuals to find information, be themselves, and stay connected to what matters to them in their language.
Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja opened the event. She declared:
Pakistan is moving fast on a path to a future where technology powers all its citizens. Our National AI Policy and collaboration with Meta are evidence of that, driving AI literacy, digital transformation, and innovation in government and academia.
The firm also launched the Asian Pacific version of the “Transforming Public Sector Innovation in Asia Pacific with Llama” guide, which was created together with Deloitte. The guide, facilitated by the Ministry, shows how Meta’s open-source AI model, Llama, can simplify government functions, improve public services, and enable data sovereignty.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of IT&T, Meta, the Higher Education Commission (HEC), the National Computing and Emerging Sciences Accreditation Council (NCEAC), and Atomcamp launched an AI Literacy Program. The initiative is to upskill 350 non-computer science faculty members from various Pakistani universities with fundamental AI skills to make the next generation ready for the future of work.
