A new initiative has been announced with the aim of empowering UAE workers to keep pace with AI (artificial intelligence) tech developments.

Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, Omar Sultan Al Olama, announced the initiative on Wednesday during the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils 2023.

The plans involve reskilling, retooling and retiring UAE employees: "If someone is going to be augmented by AI, we want to retool them to actually be able to use these tools, and if someone is a year or two from retirement and has no interest in retooling, they have the option of retiring early," the minister stated.

Al Olama went on to explain the reasoning behind the initiative: "If people are part of a job class that is going to be completely displaced by AI, you need to provide government programs that will completely reskill them in a new job class that is not going to be displaced."

Furthermore, the session also discussed the challenges surrounding sustainable development, data equity, women's empowerment and the interconnectedness of climate and human development, Emirates News Agency reports.

According to the CEO of Crescent Enterprises, Badr Jafar: "We can no longer separate the climate agenda from the human development agenda or the nature agenda. It can no longer be a zero-sum game where we can progress one at the expense of another."

Whereas, Nili Gilbert, the Vice-Chairwoman of Carbon Direct in the USA, reiterated this sentiment: "Everything is interconnected and interdependent, and we need to organise ourselves as an ecosystem to be able to address the challenges as they are."

Gilbert also stressed the importance of keeping focus on social and equality issues, as well as climate and environmental targets, believing it to be "impossible to address the climate challenge without simultaneously addressing social and equity concerns".

Furthermore, the CEO of DataKind in the USA, Lauren Woodman, highlighted the significance of data equity in response to social challenges: "We began with the action-oriented premise that we must move forward and undertake the necessary steps to ensure that this powerful technology, with its abundant promising opportunities, maintains its human-centred focus."

In addition, the importance of empowering women in future-focused industries, such as AI, was underscored by Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Moms First: "Most women across the globe live in countries that have a broken structure of care."

The Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils 2023 took place in Dubai from the 16th to the 18th of October.