AI has to be for everyone, not just 'digital natives'

“Hypercognitive”, “comfortable with collecting and cross-referencing many sources of information”, and capable of “integrating virtual and offline experiences”. These are just some of the epithets applied to the digital natives of Gen Z – those born between 1996 and 2010 who became the first generation to grow up with the internet, social media and smartphones.

These descriptions can be found in a report by US consultancy firm McKinsey and Company published in 2018, well before the increasing adoption of consumer-oriented artificial intelligence that is changing how companies do business, governments govern and scientists make new discoveries. Societies are reckoning with the shifting attitudes, demand and skillsets of humanity’s first – and growing – online generation, and they are now confronted by the powerful changes and opportunities presented by an AI that has truly left the computer lab behind is now a part of our everyday lives.

AI is impressive, complex and evolving. But it is not the stuff of science fiction any more. Last year’s announcement that US tech giant Microsoft is to invest $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence and cloud company G42, the release of Falcon LLM – Abu Dhabi’s own large language model – and this week’s news that UAE-based technology fund MGX is involved in a $500 billion plan to develop digital infrastructure in the US all indicate that AI isn’t going anywhere. If so, more people than ever will need to understand and use it – and as a consequence benefit from it.

This week, Abu Dhabi's government launched its Digital Strategy 2025-2027 – this aims to transform the emirate into the world’s first fully AI-powered government by 2027. The programme will allocate Dh13 billion ($3.5 billion) over the next two years to boosting digital infrastructure, automating government processes, and integrating sovereign cloud computing across all operations. The strategy is also expected to create more than 5,000 jobs.

Such a comprehensive embrace of AI means the lives of everyone who lives in the emirate will be touched by this digital revolution. The question now is how to make sure as many people as possible are au fait with such rapidly developing technology.

The rise of the internet and advanced technology over the past two decades has fuelled concerns about “digital literacy” – the ability of ordinary people to access, understand and use computers and online systems in their day-to-day lives. A 2023 report from the UN described digital literacy as being marred by a “great divide”. Although the speed of digitalisation in the past couple of decades has improved living standards and conditions in some parts of the world, the UN says, “groups of people are left outside of the current wave of innovations”.

As Unicef, the UN children’s charity puts it, this digital divide is not just about who has access to technology and who does not - “the gap also encompasses several other discrepancies, including the quality of digital infrastructure in rural communities, the speed of connectivity in remote areas, and the training and skills required to navigate such technology”.

It is notable therefore that Abu Dhabi’s approach to AI, one that has spent more than 10 years bringing together government, investors and universities, includes steps to make the technology as familiar and as accessible as possible. The new strategy emphasises citizen empowerment through AI training under the emirate’s AI for All programme – a commitment to the public that it will be part of the technological changes that are taking place.

Such steps to avoid an “AI divide” developing are important. This means including basic AI concepts in school education. A good example of this can be seen in this week’s news that the National Programme for Coders and Samsung Gulf Electronics have announced an expansion of their Galaxy AI Pioneers programme. This aims to bring AI education directly to classrooms across the country by training more than 4,000 students in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in AI-related skills such as coding, content creation and online safety.

But a comprehensive strategy also means making AI user friendly and effective. Gen Z may have a handle on such technology, but it shouldn't be taken for granted that everyone is as comfortable in the online world. Truly making AI “for all” will be critical to its success.