Over the past twelve months, artificial intelligence (AI) discussions have become omnipresent; it's challenging to spend even a brief period without AI featuring in conversation. This surge in interest has been driven by innovations like ChatGPT, which have democratized access to AI capabilities beyond tech experts.
Against this backdrop of fervent adoption, cybersecurity company Darktrace anticipates considerable growth poised for the financial year 2024, with projected revenues of $689.5m (£548.71m), as reported by City AM.
Moreover, there's now a university dedicated solely to AI—the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi—established and licensed in March 2020, has enrolled 365 students from 45 different nations. Abu Dhabi's emergence as the site for this institution is not accidental.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) aims to cement itself as an AI global heavyweight, intending, as Telecom Review notes, to channel investments of approximately AED335 bn (£72.6bn) into the sector by 2031.
The situation starkly contrasts with that in the UK where the strategy appears less ambitious. Although August saw the government earmark £32m to support 98 domestic AI projects, this came on the heels of a cancelled endeavour to build a £1.3bn supercomputer—a decision slammed by 4J Studios' Chairman Chris van der Kuyl as "idiotic" and likely to trigger a technology brain drain to the US.
MBZUAI proudly stands as the first graduate-level university with a dedicated focus on artificial intelligence, offering advanced Master of Science (MSc) and PhD programmes across pivotal domains such as computer science, computer vision, machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics. Targeted at an international student body, MBZUAI is built on the promise of enabling students to delve into innovative AI research alongside top-tier experts in astonishingly equipped facilities.
The university caters to experience-rich fields like healthcare, education, and energy sectors through its offerings. With its Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre (MIEC), MBZUAI aims to transform student concepts into startup ventures, fostering a seamless transition from scholarly research to practical application.
