Artificially intelligent robots like Kuri will soon be entertaining children and caring for the elderly and infirm. Mayfield Robotics
Artificially intelligent robots like Kuri will soon be entertaining children and caring for the elderly and infirm. Mayfield Robotics
Artificially intelligent robots like Kuri will soon be entertaining children and caring for the elderly and infirm. Mayfield Robotics
Artificially intelligent robots like Kuri will soon be entertaining children and caring for the elderly and infirm. Mayfield Robotics

Year in review: UAE embraces artificial intelligence


James Langton
  • English
  • Arabic

Kuri will arrive in our homes early in the New Year. The chirruping 50 cm high robot can trundle around entertaining your kids, take photographs when it thinks you are doing something interesting, wake you up in the morning and greet you at the front door.

All yours for US$799 (Dh 2,934).

The makers of Kuri, an American start up backed by Bosch, believe that robots like this, and jibo, a similar product, are the future we will all live in.

Artificially intelligent household robots, they are betting, will perform more and more of the mundane tasks in our households.  Within a relatively short time they will also become increasingly sophisticated and smarter, serving us and our children in all sorts of ways, understanding our needs and making life easier.

Some believe they will even be able to look after our children, or the elderly and infirm, as well as any human carer.

The implication for a country like the UAE are enormous. It is estimated that around 95 per cent of children here are cared for by a nanny, either live-in or part time.

The number of nannies working here is estimated at around 750,000, almost all women from low income countries, and often supporting families of their own back home.

What happens globally when it makes more economic sense to spend several thousand dirhams on a robot nanny rather than employ a flesh and blood one?

This is just one of the implications of the advances in artificial intelligence. For some this vision of the future is troubling.

In a 2010 paper for the University of Sheffield, The Crying Shame of Robot Nannies, the authors, Noel and Amanda Sharkey, wrote: "Our concerns are about the evolving use of childcare robots and the potential dangers they pose for children and society."

One of their worries is that young children will form an emotional attachment with their robot carers, and have difficulty distinguishing real emotions and interactions from artificial ones.

Others have an even more apocryphal view of the role artificial intelligence in our future. Stephen Hawking, the brilliant theoretical physicist and cosmologist, believes that we will all be eventually replaced by artificial intelligence.

In an interview with Wired this November, he predicted: "I fear that AI may replace humans altogether.

“If people design computer viruses, someone will design AI that improves and replicates itself. This will be a new form of life that outperforms humans.”

Not everyone shares this terrifying vision of the future that seems to come straight from the Terminator series.

Omar Al Olama was earlier this year appointed to the UAE Cabinet as the world’s first Minister of Artificial Intelligence. In his first public engagement he enthused at the potential of AI to help us meet environmental challenges, from energy efficiency to combating climate change.

“Everyone is looking at AI either as a utopian or dystopian scenario, either good or bad,” the minister said.

The reality, he said, was that AI is still at such an early stage, that predictions of doom were “Still a long time away.”

The world, he promised, would not: “See the negative any time soon.”

At the age of 27, the minister will live a life in which AI plays an increasingly important – or intrusive, depending on your point of view – role

But the building blocks being laid down by the UAE Government now, extend potentially even beyond his lifespan

The UAE, in particular, sees artificial intelligence as a fundamental building block for a more prosperous future.

The country's strategy on artificial intelligence was unveiled in October and is the first project in what has been called UAE Centennial 2017, when the UAE celebrates its 100 birthday  - and the minister will be 81 years old.

The uses of artificial intelligence go hand in hand with what is increasingly being called Smart Government, meaning services that are in tune with the demands of consumers and are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

It also offers potentially huge savings at a time when the UAE is transitioning to a post-oil economy.

The AI strategy estimates a reduction annually of 250 million paper transactions by the Federal Government,  a cut of 190 million man hours, and  will save customers driving 1,000 million kilometers to obtain services.  As a result, the cost of Government  is predicted to be halved.

The sectors the UAE envisage as being crucial to the AI strategy range from health, transport, and education, to traffic, renewable energy, and outer space, where the country is already envisaging a city on Mars by 2017.

As Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid wrote in a column for The National in 2015: "In this age of rapid change, those who lag behind become irrelevant – in a heartbeat.

“Countries whose governments grow old face the same fate as outdated companies. Their choice is simple: innovate, or become irrelevant.”

The advances in artificial intelligence locally certainly provided some of the most eye-catching headlines of 2017. Dubai, for example, has stated its intention to have one in four journeys made by autonomous vehicles by 2030.

Driverless vehicles depend heavily on some form of artificial intelligence to help them navigate safely and efficiently. Nowhere will this be more important than in the flying taxis the city is hoping to introduce in the near future.

These computers controlled machines – essentially flying drones capable of carrying two fare-paying passengers – will place people’s lives in the hands of AI. The first unmanned test flights have already taken place, inching a vision of the future ever closer to our everyday lives.

The UAE is not alone investigating the potential of artificial intelligence, but is seen internationally as a pioneer. It means increasingly that international businesses look at it as place they need to do business in.

Siemens, the software giant, is developing a transport and logistics centre next to Dubai World Central Airport and the site of Expo 2020. The company’s strategy is based on AI as a job creator rather than a job destroyer.

"If you would have worried about the people feeding the horses and taking care of them in the past, we would never have combustion cars," Siemens chief technology officer, Roland Busch, told The National earlier this month.

“It’s technology rolling in, it kills certain jobs, you don’t need so many horses anymore. In these kind of disruptive changes you always some jobs which are transformed and others which are created.”

It was back in 1955 when an American computer scientist John McCarthy developed the first modern theory of artificial intelligence, as the creation of a machine that could perform tasks like a human, including problem solving and self-improvement.

Is that goal any closer, 62 years later? At the University of Maryland, a robot has learned basic cooking skills by watching instructional videos on YouTube.

“Chatbots” are computer programmes that deliver responses to questions in a human like way. Increasingly they are used for customer service hotlines, while sales of responsive devices for the home and smartphones, like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home have exploded this year. Along with Apple’s Siri, they are now embedded in our daily existence. Sometimes we do not even realise we are using them.

But human-like is not the same as human. In October, it was reported that a robot called Sophia, and developed by Hong Kong based Hanson Robotics, had been given citizenship by Saudi Arabia after “addressing” a future investment conference in the Kingdom.

This was, it was claimed, the first time a robot had been given citizenship in any country. Later, Sophia’s creator, Jimmy Fallow, who had previously claimed his creation was “basically alive”, reported that the robot since had become an advocate for women’s rights, an observation that seemed more to reflect his own agenda as the robot’s programmer.

If Sophia serves as anything, it is to highlight the gulf between the perceived abilities of AI and the current, and likely near future, reality.

“An AI system, or a robot, cannot have any opinion. An AI program has nothing to offer in a debate. It doesn’t even know what a debate is,” Raja Chatilia, head of the Global Initiative for Ethic Considerations in Artificial Intelligence, told one interviewer when asked about Sophia.

“In this case, it doesn’t even know what women are, and what rights are. It’s just repeating some text that a human programmer has input in it.”

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:

Juventus 1 Ajax 2

Ajax advance 3-2 on aggregate

The specs

Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Power: 575bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: Dh554,000

On sale: now

Asia Cup Qualifier

Venue: Kuala Lumpur

Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September

Fixtures:

Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore

Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman

Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal

Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore

Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong

Thu Sep 6: Final

 

Asia Cup

Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Schedule: Sep 15-28

Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8

Transmission: seven-speed automatic

Power: 592bhp

Torque: 620Nm

Price: Dh980,000

On sale: now

Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
THE BIG THREE

NOVAK DJOKOVIC
19 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 5 (2011, 14, 15, 18, 19)
French Open: 2 (2016, 21)
US Open: 3 (2011, 15, 18)
Australian Open: 9 (2008, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21)
Prize money: $150m

ROGER FEDERER
20 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 8 (2003, 04, 05, 06, 07, 09, 12, 17)
French Open: 1 (2009)
US Open: 5 (2004, 05, 06, 07, 08)
Australian Open: 6 (2004, 06, 07, 10, 17, 18)
Prize money: $130m

RAFAEL NADAL
20 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 2 (2008, 10)
French Open: 13 (2005, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20)
US Open: 4 (2010, 13, 17, 19)
Australian Open: 1 (2009)
Prize money: $125m

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • Pension support
  • Mental well-being assistance
  • Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
  • Financial well-being incentives 
The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

PROFILE OF HALAN

Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar

All or Nothing

Amazon Prime

Four stars

SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%20electric%20motors%20with%20102kW%20battery%20pack%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E570hp%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20890Nm%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERange%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Up%20to%20428km%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C700%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
While you're here
A State of Passion

Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi

Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5

Essentials

The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.

The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
KINGDOM%20OF%20THE%20PLANET%20OF%20THE%20APES
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Wes%20Ball%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Owen%20Teague%2C%20Freya%20Allen%2C%20Kevin%20Durand%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 2x201bhp AC Permanent-magnetic electric

Transmission: n/a

Power: 402bhp

Torque: 659Nm

Price estimate: Dh200,000

On sale: Q3 2022 

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg

Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).

Second leg

Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm

Games on BeIN Sports

THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%204.4-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20653hp%20at%205%2C400rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20800Nm%20at%201%2C600-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETransmission%3A%208-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E0-100kph%20in%204.3sec%0D%3Cbr%3ETop%20speed%20250kph%0D%3Cbr%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20NA%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Q2%202023%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh750%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

The specs

Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6

Power: 400hp

Torque: 475Nm

Transmission: 9-speed automatic

Price: From Dh215,900

On sale: Now

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.