The second Global Prompt Engineering Championship is under way in Dubai, bringing together top talent from around the world to compete for a Dh1 million ($272,290) prize pool.
Organised by the Dubai Future Foundation and the Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence, the event is taking place on the sidelines of Dubai AI Week – a major platform showcasing the UAE’s growing influence in AI.
This year’s championship has drawn participants from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Brazil, South Africa, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait, Russia, Pakistan and India. The two-day competition, which began on Tuesday, highlights the global rise of prompt engineering – a skillset focused on crafting effective instructions for AI systems to generate precise, creative and context-aware outputs.
In addition to the coding, literature and art categories from the inaugural competition, this year introduced a new video category, reflecting the increasing role of generative AI in multimedia content creation.
“Choosing video was an interesting one given how revolutionary AI has been with video generation over the past year,” Hamad Al Shirawi, director of Dubai AI Week, told The National.
He said it was inspiring to observe how participants handled the pressure of the competition. “It’s really nice to be around them and see how each one of them is actually putting in their prompts in a very limited time, [it is] very stressful, being evaluated by these judges, actually producing meaningful outcomes – not just something that you and I can do quickly using one of the platforms,” he added.
“The championship is one of the activities that really looks at talent. It focuses on enabling the ecosystem and amplifying the opportunity. This only elevates, puts Dubai on the map and solidifies our position, but also attracts all these global names."
Sufyan Al Hussein, a filmmaker competing in the art category, said the first round tested participants with an unexpected creative challenge.
“It was about creating an illusion and limiting us to only three colours – red, green and black. It was challenging, to be honest, but we tried to make it as artistic as possible,” he told The National.
“I do use AI sometimes, for example, when I want to generate my mood boards, my storyboards,” he said, adding that his knowledge of art history, from Rococo to De Stijl, helped to guide his approach.
He said the registration process was simple and accessible. “You sign up, you do a test, or I would say like a challenge, you submit it and then you wait,” he said.
As he awaited the results of the second round, he remained hopeful. “I think the second prompt will be easier because there is nothing harder than this. It was very hard, but I think we’re doing amazing,” he said.
“I never thought of like winning the money itself. Maybe I want to feed my ego ... but I would reinvest it maybe also in some sort of AI service.”
The championship is one of several anchor events during Dubai AI Week, an event that brings together government leaders, tech executives, researchers and creators to explore the future of AI.
"This week is a culmination of our efforts ... bringing all of these events together gives more of a purpose, more of a well-rounded opportunity for people both based in Dubai and abroad to focus and capitalise on this week,” Mr Al Shirawi said.
Other events taking place include the AI Retreat, the Dubai Assembly for Generative AI, the Dubai AI Festival and the Machines Can See summit. The week also features a school programme to engage 50 institutions across the UAE in AI-focused activities.
The UAE, ranked among the top five countries globally for AI competitiveness, continues to build on its 2017 national AI strategy by investing in talent and creating platforms that encourage collaboration and innovation. The Global Prompt Engineering Championship exemplifies that mission – merging creativity, competition and cutting-edge technology to shape the next generation of AI leaders.
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
Haircare resolutions 2021
From Beirut and Amman to London and now Dubai, hairstylist George Massoud has seen the same mistakes made by customers all over the world. In the chair or at-home hair care, here are the resolutions he wishes his customers would make for the year ahead.
1. 'I will seek consultation from professionals'
You may know what you want, but are you sure it’s going to suit you? Haircare professionals can tell you what will work best with your skin tone, hair texture and lifestyle.
2. 'I will tell my hairdresser when I’m not happy'
Massoud says it’s better to offer constructive criticism to work on in the future. Your hairdresser will learn, and you may discover how to communicate exactly what you want more effectively the next time.
3. ‘I will treat my hair better out of the chair’
Damage control is a big part of most hairstylists’ work right now, but it can be avoided. Steer clear of over-colouring at home, try and pursue one hair brand at a time and never, ever use a straightener on still drying hair, pleads Massoud.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
Fatherland
Kele Okereke
(BMG)
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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Company%20profile
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The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
More on animal trafficking
Results:
Men's wheelchair 800m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 1.44.79; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 1.45.88; 3. Isaac Towers (GBR) 1.46.46.
