As the United Arab Emirates’ minister of artificial intelligence (AI), Omar Al Olama may have one of the most exciting and impactful portfolios in the Middle East: how to embrace the promise of artificial intelligence while avoiding the perils of missteps amid the AI revolution.
The UAE, recognizing the vast potential of AI and in line with its forward-thinking approach to governance, appointed Al Olama the world’s first AI minister in 2017. “With our leadership today, we are blessed to have this vision,” said Al Olama, in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor conducted Sept. 28 at the UAE’s Mission to the United Nations in New York. “We do not believe that we need to wait and be followers in the AI revolution. We need to take the lead.”
Al Olama began the interview with a powerful lesson from history, remarking that the failure to adopt the printing press in the 16th century set back economic development in the Middle East for two centuries. The takeaway today for Al Olama and the UAE leadership is to get ahead of the curve and stay there in advancing and adapting disruptive technologies to 21st-century governance.
“To do that,” said Al Olama, “we needed to scan the horizon and see what's going to be the biggest economic and social disrupters in the future. AI was the common outlier.… So we had to actually focus on setting a strategy where we can become the leaders in AI.” He added, “The only thing that might stop us is fear of ambiguity, fear of the future.”
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