The UAE is laser-focused on accelerating the development and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) over the next decade, rather than getting caught in the debate of regulation versus innovation, His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, said today.
Delivering the opening keynote at the Dubai AI Retreat, titled ‘The Next 5-10 Years – A Force Multiplier of a Nation’s Potential’, Al Olama told a room of AI experts and leaders about the UAE’s ethos on AI.
“Every single conversation about AI that takes place across the world today talks about two paradigms: innovation and regulation … There is another paradigm that most people don’t talk about, but that we in the UAE have adopted as our ethos when it comes to pushing this technology forward. And that is: acceleration,” he stated.
Embracing emerging technologies
“We believe that we should not compromise regulation for the sake of innovation, but we should focus on accelerating the use of this technology in the best way possible,” Al Olama told the audience at Dubai AI Retreat.
The minister also described how AI can best be deployed to improve lives. “This is the AI that we want in the UAE, and that is the AI that we think is done right; It is AI that is frictionless,” Al Olma noted.
Al Olama said the most successful businesses in the UAE were those that embrace emerging technologies: “Every single unicorn that has come out of the UAE is an AI-first company. And every single company that is going to be launched in this country going forward needs to be an AI-first company.”
AI Retreat convenes over 150 government officials and experts
The Dubai AI Retreat is taking place on Monday at the Museum of the Future as part of Dubai AI Week. The retreat witnessed the participation of over 150 government officials and global experts, and included four closed roundtable discussions focused on data and governance, digital infrastructure, economy and investment, and talent development.
Participants discussed key relevant policies and legislation, explored the opportunities provided by AI applications, and outlined strategies to amplify their positive developmental impact across vital sectors.
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Key Dubai AI Week events
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai AI Week runs from April 21 to 25, and is expected to attract renowned global experts, policymakers, innovators and industry leaders representing the world’s leading organizations and companies specializing in AI.
Key events of the week include the AI Retreat, Dubai Assembly for AI, Global Prompt Engineering Championship, Dubai AI Festival, Machines Can See summit, AI Week in Schools, 8th edition of the International Conference on Education Quality, HIMSS Executive Summit Dubai and Hackathon: Agentic AI.
