Dubai’s World Government Summit to explore future of AI

More than 4,000 delegates from the public and private sector to take part in major conference

Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and chairman of the World Government Summit, speaking at Dubai's Museum of the Future. Pawan Singh / The National

Thousands of leaders, experts and senior officials from more than 150 countries are to gather in Dubai next month to help shape future governments and identify innovative solutions for future challenges.

The World Government Summit, between February 12 and 14, will focus on artificial intelligence by hosting prominent experts such as OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman and Jensen Huang, CEO, co-founder and president of the Nvidia Corporation.

This year's summit, at Madinat Jumeirah, will also host an annual gathering for the Time 100 AI list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence.

Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and chairman of the World Government Summit, said the focus on AI became necessary due to its implications on our daily lives.

“AI won’t change the world in the coming five years, but it will do in the coming 1,000 years. It will be a major change and we can solve many problems by AI,” Mr Al Gergawi said at a ministers’ event at the Museum of the Future on Tuesday.

“We are still in the early stages of AI. The world economy, researchers and human knowledge will be changed because of AI.”

The summit will feature 15 conferences aimed at defining the future of AI, government services, urbanisation, education and smart mobility. There will be six additional conferences to cover health, sustainable development, future economies, and advanced technology.

More than 4,000 participants from the public and private sectors will participate in 110 interactive sessions, including 200 speakers from 80 international, regional and intergovernmental organisations including the UN, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Health Organisation, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Arab League.

“The World Government Summit has become a knowledge platform for new and innovative ideas. It is a platform to gather all minds in the world for the benefit of the world and the people,” Mr Al Gergawi said.

“We will have future creators from the private sector in fields of technology, energy, finance, transport and others. There will be eight Nobel Prize winners as well as 23 ministerial sessions in this year’s summit. The names of the world leaders will be announced in the coming days.”

Previous summits held over the past 10 years have hosted more than 50 presidents, 2,500 ministers, 1,550 speakers and 38,000 participants.