Minister says AI systems should be trusted according to the risks involved and held accountable for their impact on people’s lives
His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, stressed that artificial intelligence must earn trust before being granted broader powers.
He made the remarks during the “Proxy AI Trust Testing” session, held following the official opening of the Global Future Leaders meeting in Dubai today.
During the session, His Excellency posed the question: “Do we trust humans first before we ask whether we trust artificial intelligence?” He explained that the level of trust varies depending on the nature of the task and the scale of the risks involved.
He said AI agents cannot currently be given full authority to make critical decisions that affect individuals’ lives and opportunities. However, they can be relied upon for low-risk services, such as proactively renewing passports in the UAE. He stressed that building trust begins with designing systems properly and clearly defining their tasks and powers.
He also emphasised that artificial intelligence must earn trust before being granted broader powers. He explained that individuals may be willing to delegate tasks such as low-value payments to AI, provided there are clear controls and oversight of the decisions made by AI agents. He warned that trust in these systems can be lost quickly and is difficult to regain, underscoring the need to mitigate risks and hold developers accountable for the impact of their systems on people’s lives.