The dawn of the artificial intelligence age is upon us and the speed of technological development threatens to leave regulatory control in its wake.
Those concerns were one of the key themes to emerge from the World Government Summit staged in Dubai this week.
From agriculture and transport to healthcare and education, technology that was once considered science fiction is edging closer to reality.
How that is managed in the decades to come is providing an imminent conundrum for governments and policy makers, and proved a common topic of discussion in forums during the three-day summit.
“I believe we are right at the start of this revolution happening right now and I imagine more natural ways of communication so it will become seamless,” said Carol Riley, president of Drive – AI.
“This means non-verbal communication and machines start to understand what we are thinking.”
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Mind reading robots may sound like a terrifying prospect, but neuroscientists working in the field claim science has the potential to make life easier, and safer – as long as the technology is controlled and regulated correctly.
Speech and face recognition to access mobile devices and bank accounts has become routine, whilst the rise of home assistants like Amazon Echo’s Alexa device and Google Home are early AI applications that are now commonplace.
How this technology develops was a topic of discussion at the WGS involving the father of AI, Juergen Schmidhuber, chief scientist at NNaisense and co-director at Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research.
He has been working since the age of 15 to create a self-improved AI, smarter than himself.
“The next wave is going to be machines getting smart with built-in sensors,” he said.
“They can do all kinds of things that only people can do, so ‘show-and-tell’ robotics will come next when you teach a robot like a child by just showing it how it’s done.”
The rise of ‘fake news’ is a problem blamed on increasing automation and computer generated content with the potential to split society.
Predictions based on research and trend analysis by Gartner forecast that by 2020, an AI-driven creation of a ‘counterfeit reality’, or fake content, will outpace AI’s ability to detect it, fomenting digital distrust.
Most of this fake reality will be delivered to us via platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube, right to our smartphones.
Big data has been the foundation of new development for decades, with tech firms like Google using that information to monitor human trends and make our online experience more symbiotic.
In education, teachers are being given new tools to get the best out of their students.
Google Classroom is offering a universal online method of creating, distributing and grading assignments, whilst online tutorials help parents and schools learn how they can teach children to protect themselves online.
Global hunger is increasing after a decade of decline, as the planet’s population continues to swell providing new challenges to feed the poorest nations.
Alternatives to meat such as insect protein produced on an industrial scale were discussed as a healthier, cheaper and greener source of food that could be seen in most supermarkets in the near future.
Transport was another popular topic, as Dubai aims to switch 25 per cent of all vehicles to autonomous by 2030.
Technology has been described as ‘unstoppable’ by Sebastian Thrun, a German innovator and chief executive of Kitty Hawk Corporation, which aims to develop a flying car.
“It’s a very exciting time,” he said.
“We might eventually be able to upload the human brain onto a machine and in that sense, have it enter immortality.”
In healthcare, a pervasive diagnostics environment where people would receive medical exams while driving, sleeping or showering, could help offer an earlier diagnosis of killer disease like cancer, improving survival rates.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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Sreesanth's India bowling career
Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40
ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55
T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh317,671
On sale: now
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
THE 12 BREAKAWAY CLUBS
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: 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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Day 2, stumps
Pakistan 482
Australia 30/0 (13 ov)
Australia trail by 452 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the innings
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CREW
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The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
