UAE: Employees won't lose jobs to AI, but to those who 'effectively use it', experts say

While people may not lose their jobs directly to artificial intelligence (AI), they may lose them to others who know how to effectively who use AI, HR and industry leaders agreed.

This discussion was due to a recent statement by Omar Al Olama, the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, at the Federal National Council meeting last week. Al Olama suggested that Emiratis nearing retirement age could be offered early retirement if their roles can be performed by AI. Experts have since offered their insights on the potential impact of AI in the workforce.

Abu Dhabi-based HR expert Shamma Hazza supported the 'good idea' of early retirement for jobs that can be automated by AI. She saw it as a way to encourage younger generations to embrace advanced technologies, rather than remain stuck in traditional roles.

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However, Hazza pointed out that not all jobs can be replaced by AI. "Jobs that require emotional intelligence, problem-solving, critical thinking, leadership, and innovation drawn from dealing with people cannot be fully replaced by AI," she explained.

“In my opinion, AI will not replace many jobs but will transform them to perform better,” she added.

Leveraging AI to raise productivity and quality is being adopted across various governmental sectors; the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) launched several programmes to facilitate a professional technological transformation in the sector.

“Our goal is to strengthen the adoption of advanced technology and artificial intelligence by factories to raise competitiveness, leading to higher quality,” said Omar Fadhel, assistant Undersecretary of MoIAT's Industrial Accelerators Sector.

He agreed that skilled workers will be benefiting from AI integration rather than losing their jobs to it, especially in the UAE where the industry relies on sophisticated technologies that need to be run by highly skilled engineers. He added, "this is where our competency value comes from."

Veteran HR consultant Hanadi Al Jaber said the human resources sector itself relies heavily on artificial intelligence replacing with it some jobs, but to an extent.

“AI influence starts with screening applications all the way to shortlisting and sometimes rejecting or approving applicants.”

However, it is impossible for the sector, like all other sectors, to completely rely on AI leading to people losing their jobs.

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