AI Augmentation Will Elevate Human Intellect, Says Pioneering Arab Scientist Fadel Adib

Artificial intelligence is poised to elevate human capabilities to a "higher intellectual level," even if it means a shift away from certain traditional life skills, according to leading Arab scientist Fadel Adib. Adib, a professor at MIT and a successful AI start-up founder, suggested that increasing reliance on large language models like ChatGPT is not inherently negative. "We first augment humans and increase their productivity, and then eventually we also augment humans with robots, not just with AI ... increase productivity there as well. AI is changing who we are as humans," Adib stated in an interview with The National during a World Economic Forum event in Dubai. His company, Cartesian, leverages AI technology to assist robots in navigating numerous warehouses and retail stores across 15 countries, managing the tracking and collection of thousands of products.

Speaking at the Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders, which he co-chaired, Adib commented, "Some of us cannot operate without asking ChatGPT the question, and that might not necessarily be bad." He drew a parallel to past concerns about students losing memorization skills due to the internet. "What's the point of memorising if you can Google everything? And maybe AI is going to help us operate at a higher intellectual level." He further elaborated, "And as humans, we've repeatedly managed to do that. We don't learn how to make fire anymore, and we don't need to. As humans, we've managed to repeatedly figure out how we operate at a higher level of abstraction, and I think we're going to do that again."

Dr. Adib, who hails from Tripoli, Lebanon, and was honored with a Dh1 million Great Arab Minds award in 2023 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, also anticipates challenges to the dominance of US tech firms in the AI sector. Earlier at the same Dubai event, Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE's AI minister, expressed that a superpower monopoly on AI is undesirable, with middle powers and sovereign governments seeking alternatives. "AI is moving at an accelerated pace. It is moving from the digital into the physical world," Dr. Adib observed. He noted the shift from the internet's growth in the 1990s, which was US-led, to the current AI race between the US and China. "What role is Europe and Africa and Latin America and the rest of Asia going to play? The answer is not clear that just the US or China is gonna win this race."

He highlighted the significant investments and deployment of AI in the United Arab Emirates, particularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with entities like G42, stating, "Our first prime adopters were in Europe. And if you look at the United Arab Emirates, there's a lot of investment. There's a lot of AI investments here in Dubai, and they are deploying it. They're seeing real change. And in Abu Dhabi, with the creation of G42, and the investment in data infrastructure." Adib concluded, "And as a scientist, I love challenges, and as a technologist, I love the optimism of it. There is an opportunity for real change and impact."