Editorial

Does Dubia’s use of AI offer useful lessons for UK local government?

US public affairs trend think tank Brookings’ study suggests the city-state is ’emerging as a model of smart city and AI experimentation supported by government’

Posted 1 October 2018 by Gary Flood


Dubai is proving to be “particularly adept” at identifying opportunities to experiment and implement AI (Artificial Intelligence) technologies in education, transportation, and other government services – work that could mean the Emirate will be among the first parts of the world to use AI as a truly effective intermediary between the citizen and public services.

The claim comes from an intriguing new reportDubai offers lessons for using artificial intelligence in local government, from US-based The Brookings Institution.

Examples of practical AI in action include in the education sector, where classroom robots are set to step in to help close a local teacher shortage, and facilitate student tutoring based on personalised curricula, and in the use of AI to ease traffic congestion, with a stated aim of one in four vehicles on the cit-state’s streets to be autonomous by 2030.

Another example is extensive use of chatbot technology to aid in public utility customer service, like the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s ‘Rammas‘ system, which understand and respond to written questions in both Arabic and English.

“Dubai is emerging as a model of smart city and AI experimentation supported by government but in partnership with industry leading companies as well as investors in a range of start-up ventures,” note the authors.

“The UAE and Dubai are quick to identify and support those technologies that these groups are developing in the AI space [and] are finding useful means of adapting them to government service needs in innovative ways that are beginning to yield lessons for other cities around the world.”

Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the second wealthiest after Abu Dhabi.

Brookings describes itself as a nonprofit public policy organisation based in Washington, DC whose mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national and global level.