Gulf states spending big on AI: Opportunity or oppression?

There have been reports and concerns raised about human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia that involve the use of digital technologies, ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence language model thats been making international headlines since it was introduced last November, replies when a DW journalist asks whether it might cause problems in the Middle East..

But, the robotic assistant added, it is important to note that these reports and allegations are not limited to artificial intelligence specifically but encompass a broader range of digital technologies and their potential misuse...

Recent high-profile cases involving Saudi Arabia include the country using digital technologies to spy on dissidents and their families overseas, as well as trying to infiltrate Twitter in order to identify government opponents using anonymous accounts...

The most recent market intelligence suggests that governments of wealthy oil-producing Gulf states like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are now spending as much, if not more, than some individual European countries on advancing AI-related technologies at home...

Currently in the Gulf states, AI technologies are being used for the same kinds of things they are in other countries: for example, as chatbots on retailer websites or to streamline state services for power and water, enhance digital financial services like web-based banking, analyze the performance of companies like the Emirates airline, or to provide insights from local health care data..

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