Assembly for Generative AI Kicks Off in Dubai
AI is About Augmenting Human Productivity and Catalyzing Creativity
The Dubai Assembly for Generative AI commenced on Wednesday in the presence of 1,800 officials, experts, and decision-makers, including more than 70 speakers participating in around 45 sessions and 12 exhibitions.
The event, organized by Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) and taking place on October 11th and 12th at the Museum of the Future and AREA 2071, got off to an exciting start with inspiring comments and predictions from top officials and keynote speakers.
"During my tenure as Minister of AI, I had to justify the significance of what we were doing. Today, the debate is very different; it is that the UAE is very far ahead, and others seek to catch up," HE Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, said during a fireside chat with CNN’s Eleni Giokos on the opening day of the Dubai Assembly for Generative AI.
In his opening statement, DFF CEO, HE Khalfan Belhoul predicted that “by 2040, GenAI will compete with the top 25% of the smartest people in different tasks,” and posed the question: “How will this revolutionize our work and the very definition of 'smart'?”
Keynote speaker Ali Dalloul, Vice President, Azure AI, Microsoft, noted that the uptake of generative AI tools has scaled much quicker than the uptake of previous revolutionary technologies such as the Internet and mobile phones.
“AI is about augmenting human productivity and catalyzing creativity. It is no less transformative than what the Industrial Age achieved in mechanizing labor,” Dalloul explained.
Speaking at the panel discussion, GenAI Today, AGI Tomorrow, Ali Hosseini, Chief Digital Officer at PwC Middle East said evolution to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is imminent, rather than a “distant dream”.
“AI and humans can collaborate, augmenting each other's capabilities to drive innovation and efficiency across industries,” he added.
Challenges and concerns regarding Generative AI were also addressed in the opening sessions of the assembly.
"What is the world's number one concern while using AI?", asked Younus Al Nasser, CEO of Dubai Data & Statistics Establishment at Digital Dubai. “It's privacy of personal data.”
Costi Perricos, Partner at Global AI Leader, Deloitte, addressed the topic AI taking over human jobs in a very practical matter, saying “AI is not going to be the end of our workforce, but of course, we have to change.”
“No one who changed the world has changed the world because of fear,” HE Al Olama, who was recently named by Time magazine among the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence, said at the conclusion of his session.
“If you have a fear, channel it towards changing the future that you want to create. My job is to tell you, first empower yourself with the tools necessary, be aware of what is happening, and create this movement that will bring others with you, because the future will not be a selfish future,” his excellency added.