Experts Demand Stronger AI Safeguards

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Arab countries should establish a shared platform to track artificial intelligence (AI) applications and incidents, helping authorities identify emerging risks and strengthen regulations before harm occurs, a senior Bahraini prosecutor has said.

Zahra Murad, Head of the Cybercrime Prosecution at the Public Prosecution, made the proposal as a regional workshop on “Responsible AI Governance in Arab Countries” concluded in Bahrain following two days of discussions on regulation, human rights and risk management.

Murad said AI governance requires a proactive approach based on monitoring, analysis and prevention rather than waiting for problems to emerge. Referring to the AI Incident Database, which records AI-related incidents and harm worldwide, she said reliable data can help identify risk patterns and enable countries to learn from each other.

She also highlighted the potential for criminal and legal responsibility when AI is used in crimes, stressing the need to carefully assess digital evidence, including its integrity, connection to an incident, legality and evidentiary value.

Murad also pointed to Bahrain’s experience, including the AI Use Policy issued by the Information & eGovernment Authority and the Public Prosecution’s use of modern technology. She said AI-supported electronic advocacy can help organise, analyse and present evidence more clearly, while remaining subject to human oversight and legal safeguards.

Engineer Ali Ahmed Al Derazi, Chairman of the National Institution for Human Rights and the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions, said Arab states need to update laws as AI develops rapidly, particularly because the technology operates across national borders.

First Assistant Attorney General Counsellor Wael Rasheed Buallay said AI could reduce processing times, manual work and errors in judicial services, but stressed that its use must protect rights and the public interest.

The workshop called for stronger regional cooperation, transparency, accountability and practical human-rights-based AI governance frameworks.