Heritage · Tourism
MadinahGPT
The world's first AI-powered heritage guide to discover Madinah.
Bilingual Arabic-English heritage guide built on RAG: 1,000+ sites in Madinah and verified knowledge curated from 20 authenticated Arabic sources.
- Research project
- Live
Overview
By 2030, Madinah will welcome 30 million visitors a year, yet most see fewer than 10 of its 1,000+ heritage sites. MadinahGPT aims to close that gap with an AI heritage guide, bilingual in Arabic and English.
The guide relies on retrieval-augmented generation (RAG): each answer draws on verified historical knowledge from 20 authenticated Arabic sources, and can be enriched with images, maps and site references. Explanations are guided by Islamic scholars, with care for cultural and religious sensitivity.
The research project is led by the University of Prince Mugrin, under Dr Ahmed Al-Hayek, with Alfaisal University (Prof. Anis Koubaa as AI consultant); ScaleX Innovation is the industrial sponsor and provides the technical infrastructure.
The problem
By 2030, Al Madinah will welcome 30 million visitors a year. Yet most visitors see fewer than 10 of its 1,000+ heritage sites.
The AI solution
MadinahGPT uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to deliver verified, bilingual and culturally sensitive answers, guided by Islamic scholars and enriched with images, maps and site references.
Key figures
- 1,000+ heritage sites
- 92% faithfulness
- 99% groundedness
- 20 authenticated Arabic sources
How it works
Ask a question
In Arabic or English, about a site, a place or an episode of Madinah's history.
Retrieval
MadinahGPT retrieves verified heritage knowledge from its database.
Grounded answer
AI writes a respectful, evidence-based answer, often enriched with images, maps and site references.
Instant delivery
Everything is delivered instantly, through a web and mobile interface.
Features in detail
Comprehensive knowledge base
1,000+ sites, from the Prophet's Mosque to the Uhud battlefield and the Bir Uthman well.
Culturally adapted AI
Built with religious sensitivity and heritage accuracy, and guided by Islamic scholars.
Arabic and English
Seamless guidance in both languages, for visitors from around the world.
Multimodal retrieval
Text, images, maps and historical context brought together in one answer.
Verified accuracy
92% faithfulness and 99% groundedness in evaluations.
Conversational assistant
A chatbot with starter questions: the Prophet's Mosque, sites near Uhud, the Bir Uthman well.
Use cases
A pilgrim's visit
The pilgrim discovers nearby sites with trusted, interactive guidance in their language.
Pilgrims and visitors
Group tours
The tour operator enriches its itineraries with verified explanations for its groups.
Tour operators
Research and teaching
Educators and researchers access digitized heritage knowledge verified by experts.
Educators and researchers
Heritage policy
Public bodies make heritage accessible to millions of visitors.
Government and tourism
Who it is for
- Pilgrims and visitors to Madinah
- Tour operators
- Educators and researchers
- Public tourism and heritage bodies
Available on
- Website (In English and Arabic)
Technology and models
AI
- Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)
- Multimodal retrieval: text, images, maps
- Faithfulness and groundedness evaluation
Content
- 20 authenticated Arabic sources
- 1,000+ heritage sites
- Arabic and English
Next steps
- Voice interaction for on-site exploration
- Augmented reality for immersive heritage walks
- Languages beyond Arabic and English
- Complete Seerah (Prophetic biography) coverage across historical locations
Frequently asked questions
Who runs the project?
The University of Prince Mugrin leads the research initiative, Alfaisal University contributes AI expertise, and ScaleX Innovation is the industrial sponsor.
Where do the answers come from?
From a verified historical knowledge base built from 20 authenticated Arabic sources, with explanations guided by Islamic scholars.
How is reliability measured?
With two published evaluation metrics: 92% faithfulness and 99% groundedness.
Which languages?
Arabic and English today; more languages are planned.
Sector
Heritage and tourism
Client
University of Prince Mugrin
Partners
University of Prince Mugrin, Alfaisal University