Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s Chairman and CEO, recently visited Abu Dhabi, where he shared profound insights into the transformative possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI).
During his visit to the UAE capital at the ‘AI, a New Era’ event, Nadella emphasised the substantial impact of AI in reshaping the digital environment of the country and promoting global economic growth.
Nadella’s keynote address resonated deeply with a diverse audience, including local business leaders, government officials, and developers. His message was clear: AI was the key to unlocking an array of unprecedented opportunities, and it had the potential to drive innovation and growth not only in the UAE but also on a global scale.
The power of AI
Nadella highlighted two fundamental shifts brought about by the latest advances in AI technology. The first shift revolved around the evolution of natural user interfaces (NUI), a subject close to his heart given his extensive 32-year career at Microsoft.
“The history of computing has been about improving human-computer interaction,” he said.
The Microsoft chief emphasised the significance of recent breakthroughs in understanding human language, expanding to encompass multimodal interactions, including text, images, and innovation, both as input and output.
“This leads to multimodal interfaces, supporting natural, multitasking dialogues across different domains,” he remarked. This user interface technology promises to transform the way we interact with computing, making it more intuitive and user-friendly.
A new era of reasoning
The second pivotal shift, according to Nadella, focused on the emergence of a new reasoning edge. He said, “Over the past 70 years, information technology has focused on digitising people, places, and things. You schematise the world and try to make sense of it. You use tools like databases and relational algebra to understand what the people, places, and things that we have digitised mean and how to reason over it. Now, we have a reasoning engine based on neural pattern recognition.”
Nadella explained that this reasoning engine leverages neural algebra, which operates atop digitised information, detecting patterns. This reasoning engine allowed AI to summarise documents, make predictions, and provide valuable insights. When combined with the enhanced user interface, it formed the bedrock for the future of AI, promising a wide range of applications that could revolutionise industries and transform society.
“I think these are the foundational aspects that are going to be crucial moving forward. But we should stay grounded and remember that ultimately technology is about driving economic growth by driving productivity growth,” he said.
He added, “Throughout history, technology has proven to be highly effective in expanding the economic pie, which, in turn, has raised living standards for people worldwide. This is the ultimate goal. Talking about technology is pointless if it doesn’t relate to the real-world conditions in every region and country.”
Nadella also revealed that he firmly believes that the trajectory of AI is not only to build on past developments but represents a significant departure in innovation. “We hope that there will be a real nonlinear change,” he said.
The UAE’s role in the AI revolution
Nadella’s visit to Abu Dhabi held special significance due to Microsoft’s presence in the UAE for over three decades. The country had been selected as the location for Microsoft’s first data centres in the Middle East. These cloud regions have played a pivotal role in driving the UAE’s digital transformation, serving as the backbone for the deployment of advanced technologies, including AI.
A PwC report predicted a remarkable $320 billion AI industry in the Middle East by 2030. Notably, the UAE was expected to have the largest share of AI in its economy among the nations in the region, potentially accounting for close to 14 percent of the 2030 GDP.
“This new age of AI will drive innovation and has the potential to expand opportunity and growth around the world – including in the UAE,” said Nadella.
“It’s inspiring to see so many developers and businesses in the Emirates already applying AI to address business and societal challenges.”
During his keynote, Nadella also unveiled the upcoming availability of the Azure OpenAI Service from Microsoft’s UAE cloud data centres. This service, set to launch later this month, provides access to a suite of potent AI models, including GPT-4, Codex, and DALL-E 2. These models offered a wealth of opportunities for developers, allowing them to create innovative AI applications such as virtual assistants, content generation, code creation, image editing tools, and more.
The tech visionary also showcased how UAE organisations were at the forefront of AI transformation and innovation across key sectors, including the UAE Ministry of Education’s partnership with startup ASI to develop a personalised AI tutor, the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi’s creation of a unified digital patient experience, G42’s Large Language Arabic Model, Jais, and DeepOpinion’s contributions to automation workflows.
