UAE - Today's technologies are increasingly bonding all elements of society, and the UAE is leveraging these innovations to accelerate growth and provide the best living conditions possible, the top official of Smart Dubai Government says.

"We have taken an approach to adopt and work with emerging technologies, such as AI, blockchain and big data in order to achieve the goal of making Dubai the happiest city," chief executive officer Wesam Lootah told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of Artelligence - The Artificial Intelligence Forum 2018.

Artelligence was presented by Khaleej Times, the UAE's first English-language newspaper, and MIT Sloan Management Review GCC, with Smart Dubai as the official government partner.

He says that the journey started some years ago when Smart Dubai started experimenting how to improve government services.

One of the first such initiatives was the launch of 'Rashid', a virtual AI-powered 'concierge' aimed at helping people start businesses in Dubai.

Rashid's success led Smart Dubai to launch a full-fledged AI lab in the government - another first of its kind - to help all relevant entities to embed AI in their services.

"Now we have a solid roadmap and strategy towards achieving this," Lootah said, pointing out the 34 different projects across various industries such as healthcare, education, logistics, roads and transport under its umbrella. "We are very optimistic about how AI will transform the services in Dubai," he added. "The idea is that when it comes to AI and the shift in the culture, we don't really need people to know how AI applications work because this is what they experience every day," he said. Lootah cited an example of doing a search on the Web: one doesn't need to know the complexities and endless forms of machines a query had to go through to get a result in less than a second, because what's important is the convenience of the experience.

What's more important, Lootah stresses, is to address people's concerns about AI, most especially the potential displacement of some jobs or the ethics issues surrounding it. "I think the public should be educated about these things," he said, alluding to the fact that there is really nothing to be worried about the technology as the pros far outweigh the cons.

"We have a very wise leadership here in the UAE, that has prioritised the future of the country and put the well-being and happiness of its citizens and residents first," Lootah says.

"We have the capability of leveraging these new technologies for the good of everyone."

 

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