As part of its ongoing efforts to advance knowledge and capability in AI, Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) held the latest MBZUAI AI Talks focusing on AI in government. The webinar, moderated by MBZUAI Provost Professor Fakhri Karray, was attended by researchers, faculty members, students from UAE and abroad and local tech experts.
The invited speaker H.E. Dr. Mohamed Abdelhameed Al Askar, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA), noted that data is today compared to natural resources such as oil based on its potential impact on economies.
H.E. Dr. Al Askar shed light on how the UAE and Abu Dhabi have already moved beyond the hypothetical with concrete AI use cases, noting for instance that last year, Abu Dhabi deployed machine learning capabilities to localize a cardiovascular disease risk calculator. This is estimated to reduce the operational costs in the health sector massively by proactively identifying these risks and treating them before they deteriorate.
In the education sector, H.E. Dr. Al Askar highlighted that Abu Dhabi has deployed a model to predict and improve student performance. Working with the police, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority has also developed a traffic Safety and accident prevention tool that utilizes traffic cameras to detect phone usage and seatbelt violation.
“We have so far identified several high Impact use cases focused on healthcare, economic development, education, municipalities and transport and community development ready for implementation,” H.E. Dr Al Askar said.
“AI will have a massive social impact in the future.Aswe increasingly rely on calls and text, human interaction is becoming increasingly scarce, and the alienation will only worsen as AI’s capability to communicate with humans improves.” H.E. Dr. Al Askar observed.
It is worth noting that the UAE envisions a 60% increase in GDP by 2031 through AI investment and adoption in various sectors. This is estimated to have an economic benefit of AED 353 billion by 2031.
