Governments urged to keep up with new tech by focusing on use cases and oversight

Youth poised to play a key role in shaping responsible and just technology, government official says at Gets 2025

Delegates at the Governance of Emerging Technologies Summit in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

Governments are being urged to take a careful approach to new technologies and strike a balance between utility and oversight, a senior UAE official has said.

Technology such as artificial intelligence is bringing a "challenging dilemma" to governments that need to keep pace with ethical considerations while trying to maintain an edge in innovation, said Faisal Al Bannai, adviser to the UAE President for Strategic Research and Advanced Technology Affairs.

"The issue at the moment is that AI is such an impactful technology, many governments are unable to put the brakes on how fast it's evolving due to the fact that it can impact ... in a very large way," Mr Al Bannai, who is also secretary general of the Advanced Technology Research Council, said at the Governance of Emerging Technologies Summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

"We want to accelerate all of the experimentation in this space, and yet that must come with ethical considerations. It's a big dilemma at the moment – do you put the brakes ... until you have high assurance [that it will work]?"

Mr Al Bannai noted that many countries and technology players are putting checks and balances in place to help decide whether to roll out certain tech-powered services.

Overregulation is also "a bit challenging at the moment" because, with the fast pace of technology, reaching out too far may result in unintended outcomes, he added.

"It's a very fine line between doing what is possible and at the same time being extremely aggressive in the AI race ... it seems to be extremely hard to put any massive brakes on," Mr Al Bannai said.

The growth of ethical innovation is expected to be shaped by the new generation, who are becoming increasingly aware of the role they have to play in the future of society, Dr Sultan Al Neyadi, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, said at Gets.

"We stand at the threshold of a new epoch where the governance of technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing holds unprecedented promise, yet the promise of these innovations is only as great as our ability to govern them with wisdom and foresight," Dr Al Neyadi said.

The minister said that the new generation, who are increasingly building their own solutions and contributing to societal and economic growth, have strong ideas of fairness, inclusivity and justice, which are "essential to the creation of governance frameworks that are resilient, adaptive and just".

The UAE is investing heavily in new technology and is rapidly becoming a vital player in the global AI space. In addition to numerous programmes rolled out by the government to support innovators in the Emirates, the government has also increasingly committed to overseas co-operation, such as November's introduction of an international policy on AI to help prevent the misuse of the technology.

"Today we should not be silent watchers or observers in what is going on in the arena of technology – we have to be active participants," said Dr Hamad Al Shamsi, the UAE's attorney general. "We have to lead technology, not be led by technology. We should not refuse development, but we have to seek for fair technological use [for all]."