The United Arab Emirates looks set to integrating AI education in its schools’ curricula, meaning all children from kindergarten to high school will learn about the technology, how it can be used day-to-day, and the best ways to implement the various types of models.
There will also be classes covering the ethics of AI, something that the country’s young might eventually teach to the world, according to OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who once termed the UAE the world’s ‘sandbox’ in which issues around AI such as governance could be thrashed out, and from which the rest of the world can make its regulatory models.
The new curriculum will include areas such as data and algorithms, software applications, the ethics of AI, real-world applications of the technology, policies, and social engagement. All modules have been designed to be age-appropriate, and will be incorporated into the standard curriculum, rather than being taught after-hours.
The rollout into schools is part of the country’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031, which aims to position the Kingdom as a global leader in AI capabilities – including education – and is part of wider efforts to diversify the UAE’s economy from its core basis of oil production and sale.
In addition to the changes to school timetables, the National AI Strategy also includes funds to promote AI in research, with institutions like the American University of Sharjah and United Arab Emirates University committed to the technology’s use in the higher and postgraduate sectors. There are also public awareness and learning initiatives springing up in the country as it gathers momentum to become the country that’s most behind the possibilities of AI in the modern world.
An AI investment fund is expected to reach a value of $100 billion in the next few years, according to people familiar with the project. The country also has plans to spend around $1.4 trillion in in the US in the next ten years on energy generation, semiconductor manufacture, and AI infrastructure. Investments abroad will ensure the Kingdom retains positive relations with elements of its supply chain related to AI.
US President Trump is thought to be considering easing tariffs and other restrictions on exports of Nvidia hardware to the Kingdom, and has planned a visit to the region later this month, when he will also visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The UAE has actively encouraged investment in infrastructure from Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei, and is seen as something of an impartial middle-ground in the ongoing trade war between the Western and Eastern industrial and technology blocs. The wider region is home to some of the most affluent nations, so any curbs on trade tend to have negative effects on vendors based on both sides of the divide.
