AI at the Edge: 6G, Arabic LLMs & the Middle East’s AI Leap with Mérouane Debbah

Oct 08, 2025
00:39:39

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Show Notes

In this episode of Convo AI World Podcast, we dive deep into the future of AI, telecom, and the evolving role of conversational interfaces with Prof. Merouane Debbah, Founding Director of the Khalifa University 6G Research Center and one of the leading minds behind the Arab world’s first large language models — Noor and Falcon.

Key Topics Covered

  • Journey to the Middle East and building Arabic LLMs (Noor and Falcon)
  • 6G telecommunications designed for mobile agents and intelligence
  • Semantic communication: transmitting instructions instead of raw data
  • App-free future with voice as primary interface to LLM operating systems
  • Edge computing and the shift from large to small language models
  • Telecom operators' renaissance: serving AI as a new service category
  • Regional LLMs and the importance of cultural context in AI
  • Data challenges for multilingual and dialect-aware conversational AI
  • AI evaluation beyond academic benchmarks for real-world applications
  • Academic-industry collaboration for competitive advantage
  • UAE's strategic AI vision and decade of investment results

Episode Chapters & Transcript

00:35

Welcome and Introduction to Mérouane Debbah

Viniit welcomes Mérouane Debbah, professor at Khalifa University and founding director of the 6G Research Center, highlighting his work on LLMs, distributed AI systems, and his role in launching the Arab world's first LLMs, Noor and Falcon.

02:05

Journey to the Middle East and Building Arabic LLMs

Mérouane shares his journey to the Middle East as chief researcher at Technology Innovation Institute, the creation of Noor (10 billion parameter Arabic LLM) in 2021, and the development of Falcon, which became the top-ranked open-source model globally in 2023.

05:21

From Foundational Models to Infrastructure: The Future of AI

Discussion on how AI value lies not in foundational models but in verticals and production use. Mérouane explains the shift toward building infrastructure that connects AI models and enables agent-to-agent communication, leading to his work on 6G.

07:12

Understanding 6G: Mobile for Agents and Intelligence

Comprehensive explanation of telecommunications generations from 2G (voice) through 5G (IoT), with 6G being designed for mobile agents and intelligence. Discussion of how future internet will be assistant-to-assistant communication rather than human-to-human.

10:33

Semantic Communication: Rethinking Data Transfer

Mérouane explains semantic communication using the example of image-to-text-to-image transfer, where only instructions (prompts) are transmitted instead of raw data, requiring new infrastructure for fast, reliable AI-to-AI communication.

11:06

6G Timeline and Standardization Challenges

Overview of the 10-year development cycle for telecommunications generations, with 6G targeted for 2030. Discussion of standardization requirements to ensure universal compatibility between different AI models and platforms across manufacturers.

13:36

The App-Free Future: Voice as the Primary Interface

Vision of future phones without apps, where large language models act as operating systems. Users will interact through voice commands converted to actions via large action models, fundamentally changing the mobile ecosystem.

16:52

Edge Computing and Small Language Models

Discussion of AI moving to the edge (devices, base stations, routers) requiring a shift from large to small language models. Challenges of embedding intelligence on mobile devices while managing energy consumption and efficiency.

19:11

Telecom Operators' Renaissance: Serving AI

How edge computing creates opportunities for telecom operators to serve AI as a new service category alongside voice, data, and internet. Vision of AI inference subscriptions bundled with traditional telecom packages.

21:45

The Importance of Regional LLMs and Cultural Context

Explanation of why regional LLMs are necessary beyond translation, using the example of how an English-trained model would give culturally inappropriate responses when translated to Arabic, emphasizing the need for culturally-aware AI.

24:01

Data Challenges: Written and Spoken Language Barriers

Discussion of data acquisition challenges for regional LLMs, including the English bias in internet content, cost barriers for data upload in developing countries, and the complexity of capturing spoken language and dialects.

26:39

Conversational AI Challenges: Dialects and Real-Time Processing

Challenges in voice-based conversational AI including dialect diversity, intonation differences, and varying speech speeds across cultures, requiring sophisticated real-time processing capabilities.

27:54

Evaluation and Benchmarking: Beyond Academic Metrics

Critique of current AI model evaluation methods that focus on academic benchmarks rather than real-world usage. Discussion of the gap between how models are ranked versus how they're actually used in production.

31:56

GSMA Collaboration and Industry Benchmarks

Mérouane's work with GSMA to develop telecom-specific benchmarks and evaluation criteria, announced at Mobile World Congress, highlighting the importance of industry-specific model assessment.

33:28

Staying Current in a Fast-Paced Field

Personal insights on managing the intense pace of AI development, including strategies for following the field through newsletters, arXiv papers, and community connections to separate signal from noise.

36:07

The Importance of Academic-Industry Collaboration

Emphasis on collaborating with researchers to understand what's coming 1-2 years ahead rather than reacting to what's already been demonstrated, providing competitive advantage through early insight into emerging technologies.

37:39

UAE's AI Vision: A Decade of Strategic Investment

Reflection on the UAE's visionary approach since appointing the first Minister of AI in 2017, discussing the massive changes in talent attraction, infrastructure development, and the results now becoming visible.

39:24

Closing Remarks and Regional Opportunities

Final thoughts on the exceptional moment for AI development in the Middle East region, invitation to visit Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, and appreciation for the conversation.

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Tags

#6g#arabic llms#merouane debbah#khalifa university#semantic communication#edge computing#regional ai#cultural ai#noor#falcon#telecom ai#voice interfaces#ai infrastructure#multilingual ai#ai benchmarking#uae ai strategy#conversational ai#mobile agents