Sharing Impactful & Cutting-Edge Research

UTILIZING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO UNCOVER THE KINGDOM’S ANCIENT STONE STRUCTURES

KAUST researchers have automated archaeological land survey practices, opening doors for science and heritage

KAUST researchers are using arti cial intelligence (AI) in the eld of archaeology in Saudi Arabia, providing a detailed land survey of a historically signi cant but little-studied region. The results could speed up archaeological discoveries in the Kingdom, create new knowledge for the promotion of cultural heritage, and provide a methodology useful to other sectors of the economy.

The team, composed of Virgile Blua, a visiting student in the Image and Video Understanding Laboratory (IVUL); Dr. Silvio Giancola, Research Scientist for IVUL and the AI Initiative; Dr. Laurence Hapiot, KAUST Archaeological Research and Cultural Outreach Fellow; and Professor Bernard Ghanem, Principal Investigator for IVUL and Deputy Director of the AI Initiative, came together after Hapiot, who holds a PhD in archaeology from Panthéon-Sorbonne University, identi ed the scope for multidisciplinary collaboration. The project is funded by the Of ce of the President, the Of ce of the Provost and IVUL.

The initiative is part of an emerging research eld called computational archaeology, which employs high-speed computational processing methods to analyze large volumes of data. The team created a software to automate the detection of stone structures using pictures of land collected from satellite imagery. For more than a decade, archaeologists have been manually using open-access satellite images and search software such as Google Earth to nd clues to the possible location of ruins or ancient civilizations, and then conduct site visits. In this case, the KAUST team used an automated process to survey ancient walled structures called mustatils, from

SAUDI HERITAGE COMMISSION

“Artificial intelligence and machine learning help to rapidly interpret vast amounts of data from archaeological sites across the Kingdom. The Saudi Heritage Commission welcomes KAUST’s efforts to use the latest technology for studying ancient hilltop stone structures. This may help us learn more about their function and distribution, as well as the ancient populations that built them.”

Dr. Jasir Al-Harbash, CEO of the Heritage Commission – Ministry of Culture the Arabic word for rectangles, in northwest Saudi Arabia, as well as ruins in circular and triangular shapes. The mustatils range from a few meters to hundreds of meters in length, and date to the late 6th millennium BCE.

The approach uses a deep machine learning algorithm trained on datasets manually identi ed by Hapiot. Once the algorithm is trained, it is able to isolate thousands of features with similar characteristics over a wide area. When a new structure is detected, the tool can convert the relevant pixels into geodetic coordinates using a global positioning system (GPS), and assemble them into an online map and database for analysis. The technology could be used for other surveying exercises to detect any large object in an open landscape.

The vast area under study in the Kingdom is estimated to have thousands of these monumental stone structures. With Saudi Arabia covering roughly two million square kilometers, traditional search and detection methods could take months or years to complete, compared to the ve hours it takes the team’s AI-enabled strategy.

KAUST’s new solution can not only speed up that process, but also answer questions about the size, volume and distribution of ancient remains, or assess if the presence of a structure means there is likely to be a similar or related structure in the vicinity.

A data-driven and machine learning tool of such archaeological importance could help ful ll the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals by recording, preserving and highlighting the country’s unique heritage. This would also serve to support the development of a tourism economy. Saudi Arabia’s open landscape is ideal for this type of technology, which could be made available elsewhere in the region where there are similar topographical traits. Further collaboration between archaeology and AI could be initiated by either archaeologists looking for help, or data scientists aware of existing archaeological studies that might bene t from these applications.

LAURENCE HAPIOT Archaeological Research and Cultural Outreach Fellow

THIS PROJECT DEMONSTRATES HOW KAUST IS A UNIQUE PLACE FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH. VERY FEW ENVIRONMENTS CAN PROMOTE QUICK INTEGRATION OF DEEP TECHNICAL CONCEPTS SUCH AS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN COLLABORATION WITH ARCHAEOLOGISTS. THE OUTCOME IS A UNIQUE UNDERSTANDING OF THE GLOBAL PRESENCE OF STONE STRUCTURES.

PREPARING SAUDI RHODES SCHOLARS

KAUST program participants are awarded one of the world’s most prestigious scholarships

For the second year in a row, three Saudi undergraduates were selected as Rhodes scholars, joining the oldest and one of the most prestigious communities of scholars in the world. Of these, two awardees are from a STEM eld and are current participants or alumni of a KAUST program.

The Rhodes Trust awards 100 international scholarships each year to young leaders who demonstrate outstanding intellect and character, and who are motivated to engage with pressing global challenges. Awardees receive a full scholarship to further explore their areas of research interest while pursuing graduate studies at the University of Oxford.

This year’s success mirrors that of 2021 – the rst time that three Saudi students were selected as Rhodes scholars in a single cohort. Notably, of the six Saudi Rhodes scholars selected in the past two years, ve are bene ciaries of one or more KAUST student research or talent development programs. This exempli es the university’s commitment to and success in fostering the next generation of the nation’s scientists, entrepreneurs and thought leaders.

Coming from different backgrounds, universities and research areas, these scholars represent the enormous potential of the Kingdom’s youth, as well as the opportunities that Saudi Arabia’s ever-increasing commitment to education and development has afforded. Such achievements reinforce KAUST’s success in capacity-building through transformational opportunities, underscoring the impact at the individual, institutional and national level that world-class academic programming, mentorship and support have in catalyzing internationally competitive innovators.

KAUST SUMMER INTERNSHIP PARTICIPANT

“KAUST’s facilities provided me the scientific tools for high-quality research. I realized that I can compete with students in different parts of the world, which encouraged me to apply for the Rhodes scholarship.”

DR. NAJAH ASHRY Vice President for Strategic National Advancement

WE AT KAUST PLAY OUR ROLE IN SUPPORTING THE NATIONAL VISION BY EQUIPPING AND ENABLING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SAUDI SCIENTISTS, THOUGHT LEADERS, INNOVATORS AND ENTREPRENEURS – IT IS WHAT WE DO BEST.

Ahmed Aljohani joined the KAUST Gifted Student Program in 2017 before going on to study at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2021, he returned to KAUST and interned with Professor Salim Babili at the KAUST Center for Desert Agriculture. At the University of Oxford, he plans to study marine biology and eventually return to Saudi Arabia to work on Red Sea coral reef preservation and rehabilitation.

Mohammed Alghadeer obtained a bachelor’s degree in physics and engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals before participating in the KAUST Saudi Summer Internship program in 2021. There, he worked with Professor Hossein Fariborzi to develop new surface treatments to reduce coherent losses in quantum devices. Alghadeer is currently collaborating with the Quantum Nanoelectronics Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the University of Oxford he plans to study condensed matter physics with a research focus on quantum information technology.

NURTURING LOCAL TALENT

KAUST alumni and student researchers win national and international recognition

KAUST alumni and current students continue to win national and international awards and honors, underlining the critical role the university plays in nurturing the Kingdom’s next generation of science and engineering talent.

AHMAD SHOWAIL KAUST Alumnus and Fulbright Scholar

Dr. Noha Al-Harthi Technology Lead at NEOM

Dr. Noha Al-Harthi, who completed her master’s and doctorate in computer science at KAUST, was recently named Woman of the Year in the eld of science and technology at the Arabian Business KSA Women Excellence Awards, a major prize for women entrepreneurs in the Kingdom. It marks another signi cant milestone in Al-Harthi’s promising young career; she previously became the rst researcher from the Middle East, along with KAUST doctoral student Rabab AlOmairy, to win the prestigious German Gauss Center for Supercomputing Award in 2020 for original research that best advances high-performance computing. Al-Harthi currently serves as Technology Lead at NEOM, where she heads initiatives on emerging technologies such as advanced robotics and human-machine interfaces.

Rabab AlOmairy PhD student

Rabab AlOmairy, a doctoral student in computer science at KAUST, was recently selected as one of the Rising Stars in Computational and Data Sciences, a program and workshop hosted by US government agency Sandia National Laboratories. Rising Stars organizes workshops for female graduate students and postdoctoral fellows interested in pursuing academic and research careers. Acceptance is an honor; on average only 25% of nominations are selected each year. AlOmairy, the co-winner of the German Gauss Center for Supercomputing Award in 2020, was one of the few non-US nationals selected for the 2022 Rising Stars workshop at the University of Texas at Austin. KAUST SHAPED ME AS A RESEARCHER. THE FACULTY TAUGHT ME ALWAYS TO SEEK TO INNOVATE AT THE CUTTING EDGE AND TACKLE THE MOST IMPACTFUL ISSUES. KAUST DEFINITELY HAD A GREAT IMPACT ON MY PERSONALITY AS A RESEARCHER.

KAUST alumnus Ahmad Showail recently secured a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research at the University of California Irvine in collaboration with Assistant Professor Faisal Nawab, also a university alumnus. Showail graduated from KAUST’s 2009 founding class, earning a master’s of computer science before joining the networking lab of Professor Basem Shihada. He completed a doctorate in computer science at KAUST in 2016, after which he taught and researched at universities in Madinah. The Fulbright Program is considered one of the most competitive, widely recognized and prestigious scholarships in the world. Showail submitted a project proposal to develop cutting-edge technology that would ensure greater privacy for the internet of things.

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

“Rising Stars in Computational and Data Sciences is about building a network of women who are destined to lead us toward the full potential of high-performance computing as simulation and big data converge. We are happy to see KAUST developing stars in the interdisciplinary field of computational engineering and sciences.”

Karen E. Willcox, Director of the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin