The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is looking to use ChatGPT technology to enhance its services. 

In a statement on Wednesday, DEWA confirmed that its Managing Director and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer has met with Naim Yazbeck, General Manager of Microsoft UAE, to explore the possibilities of integrating new technologies in its products. 

ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) has been developed by intelligence research laboratory OpenAI, whose founders include Twitter owner Elon Musk.  

The chatbot has been the biggest topic of conversation in technology and has signed up 100 million monthly users since its launch in November 2022.  

According to a statement, Dubai's utility intends to use the chatbot through its Moro Hub, a "Digital DEWA" company that offers next-generation digital and cloud services.  

DEWA noted that the chatbot, which has grown in popularity due to its ability to produce compelling essays, can “interact with users through dialogue”. It is also capable of writing programming codes and solving coding problems, in addition to its ability to create different scenarios. 

If DEWA manages to integrate the AI-powered technology in its products or services, it will be the first utility globally and the first UAE entity to use ChatGPT.  

“The move underlines DEWA’s pioneering successes in all digital areas and is a continuation of its use of artificial intelligence (AI), which started in 2017 by developing an AI roadmap,” the statement said.  

“The aim is to provide services supported by this technology and employ it in serving customers and employees.” 

Al Tayer said DEWA’s collaboration with Microsoft is a translation of the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to benefit from digital technologies and AI to enhance people’s lives. 

“We applaud DEWA for their pioneering spirit and look forward to further exploring the possibilities of integrating cutting edge technologies into their products to enhance business, services and customer experience, said Yazbeck. 

 (Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Daniel Luiz) 

 Cleofe.maceda@lseg.com