On March 13, 2025, a significant meeting was held at the Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Chair, University of Karachi, marking a new milestone in the development of Sindhi linguistic technology. The meeting was attended by Mr. Amar Fayaz Buriro, Director of Abdul Majid Bhurgri Institute of Language Engineering (AMBILE), Hyderabad; Prof. Saleem Memon, Director of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Chair, University of Karachi; Dr. Rukhman Gul Palari, former Chairman of the Department of Sindhi, University of Karachi; and Dr. Sher Mehrani from the Department of Sindhi, University of Karachi.
The primary agenda of this meeting was to facilitate intellectual collaboration by mutually exchanging literary and textual resources, particularly those related to the poetry and life of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Key resources discussed included the Encyclopedia on Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and research papers published in the Kolachi Research Journal. The textual data provided by the Chair will play an integral role in the development of a Sindhi Language Model, which AMBILE is utilizing to create an AI-driven Sindhi Chat Bot.
During the meeting, Mr. Amar Fayaz Buriro provided an overview of AMBILE’s completed projects and ongoing initiatives. He highlighted the development of an AI-based Chat Bot dedicated to the life and philosophy of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. He emphasized the critical need for Sindhi textual data to build a comprehensive Large Language Model (LLM) in Sindhi, which will be deployed on the Bhitt.ai web portal.
Prof. Saleem Memon expressed his strong support for this initiative, appreciating AMBILE’s efforts in advancing Sindhi language technology. He proposed the formulation of a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to solidify this collaboration. It was a wonderful outcome that, three volumes of the Encyclopedia on Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai published by the Chair have been handed over to AMBILE for the exclusive use of the Bhitt.ai project. Additionally, scholarly research papers published in the Kolachi Research Journal, focusing on Bhittai’s life and poetry, would also be shared for the development of the Sindhi Chat Bot.
A key outcome of the meeting was the proposal for an academic seminar at the University of Karachi. Prof. Saleem Memon and Dr. Sher Mehrani will coordinate the event, which will be attended by final-year students of the Sindhi department and other enthusiastic Sindhi-speaking students from various disciplines. During this seminar, Mr. Amar Fayaz Buriro will deliver a lecture on the importance of Sindhi datasets and the Sindhi WordNet program, which is a pioneering step in the development of AI-driven linguistic platforms. Students willing to contribute will be nominated for online participation in data addition, tagging, and tokenizing Sindhi grammar in the Sindhi WordNet project developed by AMBILE.
Dr. Rukhman Gul Palari commended AMBILE’s dedication to the development of the Sindhi language in the modern AI era and assured his support for the initiative. Dr. Sher Mehrani also pledged his assistance for any Sindhi language programs undertaken by the Institute.
The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks, where Prof. Saleem Memon presented books published by the Chair to Mr. Amar Fayaz Buriro. In a reciprocal gesture, Mr. Buriro presented newsletters to the distinguished participants, symbolizing the beginning of a promising partnership in the advancement of Sindhi language technology.