The UAE has announced plans to use AI to help draft, amend and review laws, marking the world’s first approach to integrating technology into the legislative process.
The initiative, announced by Dubai Ruler and UAE VP Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, will use AI to speed up the creation of up to 70% of laws, reported by the Financial Times (FT). The Regulatory Intelligence Bureau, a newly established government force approved last week, will oversee the deployment.
Sheikh Mohammad told state media the new legislative system “has a new artificial intelligence-powered legislative system will change the way laws are written, making processes faster and more accurate.”
The UAE approach illustrates the leap from the current global applications of AI in government. This is largely limited to administrative support and document summary. The Gulf state aims to use this technology to analyze government and legal data to actively review and amend the law.
Emirati political commentator Abdulkalek Abdulla said the United Arab Emirates aims to be a “global AI and digital economy hub” just as it is a global finance and logistics hub.
However, concerns about technology reliability in the law take priority. Researchers told FT that AI models could misinterpret legal texts, but warned that AI-generated legislative proposals could be out of human norms and context.
Despite the risks, Keegan McBride of the Oxford Internet Institute praised the country’s ambitions and published that the UAE’s centralized governance structure allows it to move quickly into technology, in contrast to the democratic system.
The initiative is based on the country’s long-standing commitment to AI. In 2017, the UAE appointed Omar Sultan Alorama as the world’s first minister of AI. The move comes days after the government announced its UAE strategy for artificial intelligence as part of the country’s broader plan to increase government efficiency through emerging technologies.
Additionally, Gulf state launched a dedicated AI fund last year called MGX. Among other ventures, MGX has supported the $30 billion AI-Infrastructure Fund, particularly from US-based investment company BlackRock.
