ABU DHABI, 11th April, 2023 (WAM) — Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the first and only university dedicated to AI research at the master’s and Ph.D. levels, is driving ahead with AI research for good, with the aim of finding solutions for challenges ranging from climate change to healthcare, according to Dr. Khem Emrith, Head of Industrial Engagement at MBZUAI.
Speaking on the sidelines of the recent COP28 Regional Youth Debate in the UAE, Dr. Emrith highlighted specific instances of research which seek to use AI as a tool to solve pressing challenges. “Our faculty and students are engaged in studies on how AI can help predict and mitigate the effect of major weather and climate events from tropical storms and tsunamis to earthquakes,” he said, citing one example.
Healthcare is another key area of research at MBZUAI, which has embarked on significant AI-based research with organisations such as Malaria No More that uses satellite imaging and remote sensing data to detect and ultimately prevent malaria transmission. Moreover, AI research and tools will also contribute to the drug design for pharmaceutical solutions to treat malaria and other diseases, according to Dr. Emrith.
In the run-up to Cop 28, energy is also under the spotlight. As such, energy represents a third critical area of MBZUAI’s sustainability research, in which MBZUAI can deploy AI-enabled smart grids to enhance the distribution of energy and reduce related emissions, according to Dr. Emrith. “While AI computing infrastructure today does consume significant energy, the University is contributing to research on how to offset this consumption and make AI infrastructure more energy efficient,” he said.
Importantly, Dr Emrith also noted the specific challenge of investing in AI skills and talent for the future, without which it would be impossible to develop and deploy such solutions. “Talent development is one of the foundations of MBZUAI – creating tomorrow’s AI industry leaders who can use the skills they have fostered to develop and deploy solutions that are themselves sustainable within specific sectors,” he said.
MBZUAI’s aim is to upskill people to understand how to use AI tools in a sustainable way across key industries such as healthcare, climate, energy, and education. “It is not only about having those AI-based tools, but it is about creating the policies and infrastructure to optimise them,” Dr. Emrith added.