Robots, big data as Gulf nations bet on AI

Robots puttering astir Dubai's hi-tech Expo tract could beryllium a motion of things to travel for the Gulf, wherever caller cities are being built from scratch with artificial quality astatine their core.

The 5G-enabled Expo, covering an country doubly the size of Monaco, volition stay arsenic a "city of the future" and tech manufacture hub, Expo's main told AFP earlier its expansive opening past month.

But the $7 cardinal project, featuring robots that greet visitors and tin beryllium utilized to bid food, is not unsocial successful the affluent Gulf, wherever petro-dollars are being invested heavy successful a post-oil future.

Neighbouring Saudi Arabia is lavishing $500 cardinal connected NEOM, a marque new, next-generation Red Sea tech centre that volition connection ultra-connectivity to its planned colonisation of 1 million-plus, and is trialling airborne taxis.

AI is besides astatine the bosom of different Saudi developments including the Red Sea Project, a caller tourer country that volition usage astute systems to show biology impacts and visitant movements.

Analysts accidental the Gulf monarchies are consenting to stake large connected AI, knowing they indispensable determination distant from their reliance connected fossil substance industries and go much progressive successful tech, tourism and different areas.

"You've got precise guardant (-looking), somewhat risk-loving enactment that sees the request to transform," said Kaveh Vessali, a spouse astatine consultancy steadfast PwC Middle East.

"I deliberation that's conscionable wholly the other of what I spot successful the remainder of the world."

Automated transport

Artificial quality courses successful Bahrain superior schools, the UAE's plans for automated transportation drones and Dubai's ambition to person 25 percent of each transport automated by 2030 connection further grounds of the Gulf's tech aspirations.

The Middle East is predicted to person lone 2 percent of the estimated $15.7 trillion planetary AI system by 2030, according to PwC.

But analysts accidental the Gulf countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE—are playing the agelong game, positioning themselves to leapfrog planetary players.

The yearly maturation complaint of the Middle East AI marketplace is astir 20 to 34 percent, led by the UAE and past Saudi Arabia, PwC said successful a report, predicting that much than 10 percent of each of the 2 countries' GDP volition travel from AI by 2030.

"Governments person the luxury of being much strategic," said Vessali, citing the 20 and 50-year plans which are a hallmark of Gulf governments.

"This is unheard of a) successful the backstage sector, and b) successful the West," helium adds.

Vessali said astir AI companies successful Gulf states are fully, oregon astatine slightest semi, governmental, with comparatively debased unit to make short-term returns.

However, the portion has a past of investing successful companies which did not go peculiarly profitable, extracurricular a fewer halfway industries specified arsenic lipid and gas, helium warned.

'Streamlined' decision-making

While the portion mightiness beryllium known arsenic culturally conservative, its AI strategies are amended characterised arsenic wide and aggressive, according to immoderate section players.

In 2017, the UAE appointed its archetypal curate of authorities for artificial intelligence, Omar bin Sultan al-Olama, to spearhead the country's AI strategy, launched that aforesaid year.

The UAE has said it aims to go 1 of the starring nations successful AI by 2031, creating caller economical and concern opportunities, and make up to 335 cardinal dirhams ($91 billion) successful other growth.

"The portion seems to classify being near down connected caller technologies arsenic a bigger hazard than thing else," said Cesar Lopez, the CEO of Datumcon.

"Taking the hazard to bash what others aren't has attracted and built business," helium told AFP.

The information and AI solutions institution based successful the UAE and Saudi Arabia is utilizing machine imaginativeness to scan and place damaged containers astatine Jebel Ali larboard successful Dubai, 1 of the world's busiest, operated by logistics institution DP World.

But contempt the Gulf's AI investments, the deficiency of reliable and accessible information sets, which are astatine the halfway of these systems, stay a barrier.

"It's going to instrumentality a fewer years to get determination due to the fact that the information isn't mature capable for it yet (in the region)," said Stephen Rawson, an subordinate astatine American consulting steadfast Oliver Wyman.

While Gulf countries person been amended astatine centralising information crossed antithetic governmental platforms, different starring countries person managed amended information sets for longer.

But being newer to information postulation has its advantages, said Rawson, arsenic Gulf countries tin make cleaner information to make much streamlined AI systems.

"They are empowered to bash this much than they would beryllium successful the West," said Rawson, due to the fact that with backstage enterprises, "getting them to enactment and play bully volition lone enactment if there's a nett borderline inducement for each of them."

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© 2021 AFP