Dubai is aiming to become a city where robots play an increasingly important role as they rapidly become a part of our daily lives. The city has positioned itself as one of the world’s smartest cities, shaped by technology and focused on the future. Robot science is already impacting many vital sectors in the UAE, from manufacturing to surgery and from security to delivery.
Khalifa Al Kama, Director of Dubai Future Labs at the Dubai Future Foundation, has said that Dubai began this journey 20 years ago by offering digital services to improve the lives of its residents, and that the city is now exploring how to benefit from the presence of robots to provide some services to society and increase the efficiency of government initiatives.
One of the key sectors benefiting from robot technology is the healthcare industry. Dr. Yaser Saedi, a robotic surgeon and urology consultant at Dubai Hospital, is the first doctor in his specialty to receive robotic surgery training. He currently uses a fourth-generation robotic system developed by NASA called da Vinci Xi, which is considered the most advanced system currently available.
Dr. Yaser says that technology helps surgeons perform complex procedures, minimizes invasive surgery, and allows for finer adjustments with robotic arms. He also adds that many surgeons are gradually shifting from laparoscopic to robotic surgery, and that the advantages of robotic surgery, including less blood loss, better outcomes, and faster recovery, are turning the tide in favour of robot-assisted procedures.
DG World, a company specialising in artificial intelligence and digitisation, offers advanced transportation solutions, industrial automation, and robotics products. The company is developing autonomous vehicles, small delivery vehicles, and robotic arms by taking advantage of the industrial sector’s transition to autonomous systems. Boston Dynamics’ autonomous robot dog, for example, is used to investigate high-risk areas such as crime scenes to collect data.
Matthias Krause, CEO of DG World, said that the benefits of robot technology, particularly robots like Boston Dynamics’ robot dogs, have increased significantly. They have also gained interest from nuclear plant officials who want to monitor radiation levels on a daily basis without exposing people to radiation. He adds that the company is researching how to use these robots for civil duties and in other contexts, such as for advanced and repetitive site monitoring required by Dubai Customs.
Arious Holding’s Singularous project is taking robotics and artificial intelligence to the next level, beyond what an intelligent city can offer. The group is helping to design and develop the first conscious city, with a focus on forward-thinking and communities that rethink how we build them.
Chris Roberts, Chairman of Singularious and CEO of Eltizam Group, explains, “We want to create and build new cities for the future. Cities are now based on artificial intelligence, not traditional buildings. A conscious city thinks for itself. That’s a city. This way of life will have an important impact on how we protect and manage cities in the future.”
Dr. Ben Goertzel, CEO of SingularityNet and Singularity’s Chief Scientist, has helped create humanoid social robot Sofia, music robot Desdemona, and health robot Grace. He says that what he sees in most intelligent cities are a collection of smart devices performing specific tasks that haven’t been consolidated into a single cognitive system yet. The aim of an intelligent city is to achieve urban-level intelligence that serves human beings.
Dr. Goertzel also expects that over the next 3-4 years, artificial intelligence with the same capabilities as humans will move from research labs to universal use. “Sharing our daily lives with humanoid robots will provide a very natural way of adapting to AI systems that currently exist behind the scenes. In the future, it will be a more natural way to communicate than texting, talking on the phone, using Alexa, or any other device.”
