It’s the sound of one of her favourite songs, playing quietly on her personalised radio station, that wakes her. As she stretches and yawns, the blinds, sensitive to her still-surfacing consciousness, ease open slowly to allow just enough sunlight into the apartment.
“It’s 9.25am on a beautiful Dubai morning, Fatima,” says the disembodied voice of Simon, her virtual assistant.
“It’s April 7, 2028, and it’s 33C and climbing out there. Oh, and happy birthday.”
She smiles. She’d chosen his British accent because it reminded her of the happy six months she’d spent studying data-analysis and algorithm design at the University of Oxford Online.
“Have you remembered you’re meeting Sayeed and Kelly at the mall at 10.30am?” Simon asks.
As her feet touch the bedroom floor Fatima hears the satisfying sound of the coffee machine starting up in the kitchen. She walks to the picture window and the blinds open fully.
She loves the UAE, to which her family moved from Iraq when she was only five years old, and she never tires of the breathtaking view of the city from the 28th floor of her apartment building on Dubai Creek. A few storeys below, a patrolling neighbourhood police drone drifts past.
As she walks past the open bedroom door she sees the robo-cleaner gliding over the tiled floor of the living room.
The lift, summoned by Simon, is waiting for her as she leaves the apartment. In the foyer she waves to the virtual concierge, which is busy cleaning the floor and watering the plants.
Fatima still misses Abdul and glances across at the abandoned front desk and the old office chair, lying on its side behind it, where he used to sit.
Outside she climbs into the waiting driverless electric pod and settles into one of the plush seats for the 10-minute journey to the mall. Joining the highway, the pod merges seamlessly with the hundreds of others, travelling in perfect formation at a steady 70 km/h.
It’s been five years since the last vehicles driven by humans disappeared from the city’s roads. Traffic lights and traffic police – and congestion, speeding fines, parking tickets, Salik and road deaths – are a thing of the past. Fatima doesn’t miss her car, or the cost of keeping it, but she does occasionally wonder what happened to that sweet little Pakistani man who used to clean it.
She can, just about, remember travelling on the Metro, a novelty she’d loved as a child, but which now is used only by the few manual workers still left in the city. Robots have taken over most of the construction jobs.
The pod stops at the mall entrance nearest to where she’s arranged to meet her friends.
In the mall, a hover-sedan approaches and offers to carry her. Fatima is tempted but waves it off – she needs the exercise.
On her way to meet Sayeed and Kelly she ducks into her favourite clothes shop.
“Show me that new floral summer dress that’s on offer,” she says. The virtual assistant makes small-talk, while the display robot brings the item to the front of the rack. Fatima wonders how things worked out for that nice Filipina girl – what was her name? – who used to work here.
“Okay, thanks, I’ll take it,” she says, and hurries out of the shop. The system knows her size.
Whether this vision of a Dubai just ten years from now strikes you as utopian or dystopian, there seems little doubt that, give or take the odd robot, it’s an unstoppable reality hurtling down the track.
The only question, as a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development makes clear, is exactly how many and what type of jobs will be swept away by the rising tide of artificial intelligence (AI) that is about to engulf the world.
At first glance the OECD report brings good news. Fewer people are going to find themselves out of work as a result of AI and automation than previous studies have claimed, it says.
The risk of automation is concentrated on low-skilled jobs such as cleaners. Those preparing food are also at risk. Assemblers and agricultural labourers, were included, as is essentially anyone involved in basic clerical work. But that's an improvement on previous estimates.
______________
Read more
500 Emirati men and women are first to be trained in batch of AI specialists
AI will complement jobs not destroy them
______________
In 2013 researchers at the Department of Engineering Science at Oxford University caused shockwaves when they estimated that 47 per cent of all jobs in the US, and 35 per cent in the UK, were likely to disappear over the next 20 years. The rest of the world, they said, faced employment carnage on a similar scale.
But not so, says the OECD, whose mission is “to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world”. Only 10 per cent of jobs in the US, and 12 per cent in the UK, it insists, are at risk.
So most of us can breathe a sigh of relief?
Absolutely not, says Calum Chace, an Oxford philosopher who speaks and writes extensively about artificial intelligence.
"All the OECD has done is take the original work Oxford did, riff on it and make different assumptions," says the author of Surviving AI and his new book, The Economic Singularity.
“To come out with a confident report saying there’s no need for anybody to worry, that it’s all going to be okay, is foolish and irresponsible, because the elephant in the room is that we just don’t know.”
Take automated cars.
It was only in 2007 that DARPA, the US defence research agency, staged the first competition for vehicles operated by artificial intelligence, offering a $1 million prize for traversing a 240km route in the Mojave Desert. The best performer, a converted Humvee, managed just 11.78 km before getting stuck on a rock.
But a decade on – and highly publicised but statistically insignificant crashes notwithstanding – self-driving cars are doing a much better job than humans and Dubai is already trialing autonomous electric pods.
“No one really saw that coming 20 years ago,” says Mr Chace. “But the reality is that machines are getting smarter much faster than we expected.”
Certain jobs, he says, are already obviously doomed – drivers, retail and call-centre staff will disappear relatively soon. Other jobs will be replaced by machines, he says, “when it is economical to do so. Once somebody cracks how to make a machine that can flip a burger, 100 per cent reliably and much better and cheaper than a human, simple economics will make all burger joints use it, because otherwise they’ll go broke.”
But trying to figure out exactly which jobs will go, and precisely when, “is a mug’s game, because we just don’t know. We have to do it, of course, to try to make sense of what’s happening and to plan, but we will probably be wrong.”
In a sense, he says, what happens over the next five years or so doesn’t matter.
“The big question is will AI over the course of a generation eliminate most jobs or create lots of new ones, or is it going to stay roughly the same?”
Economists – or, perhaps, the machines that could replace them – have their work cut out: “A world where machines do all the jobs could be a world where humans do more important things, like playing, learning and having fun, but paying for that is going to be tricky.”
There is a danger that, as the working rich grow richer and the unemployable poor slip deeper into poverty, social cohesion will break down, and social instability will follow.
“Dubai probably won’t suffer at all, because it’s got this relief valve – it can send loads of people home,” says Mr Chace, who attended the World Government Summit in the city in February and was impressed by the UAE’s determination to be a leader in the fields of AI and automation.
“But the countries they go back to probably will suffer, and that’s why we have to figure out how to run economies in which most or many people are not able to work.” We are, he says, “going to have to separate income from jobs and we don’t know how to do that at the moment”.
On the ride home from the mall, Fatima is listening to music, trying to decide which restaurant to book for her 30th birthday celebration this evening, when the menu she’s studying on the pod’s screen suddenly flickers and disappears. It’s replaced by the logo of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs.
“Good afternoon, Fatima,” says a strange but sympathetic-sounding voice.
“I’m sorry to have to tell you that as of 08.00am hours tomorrow all data analysis and programming functions in your department will be automated. As a result, your work residency permit has been cancelled and you have 30 days to leave the UAE. Happy birthday.”
FIXTURES
All kick-off times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Brackets denote aggregate score
Tuesday:
Roma (1) v Shakhtar Donetsk (2), 11.45pm
Manchester United (0) v Sevilla (0), 11.45pm
Wednesday:
Besiktas (0) v Bayern Munich (5), 9pm
Barcelona (1) v Chelsea (1), 11.45pm
EA%20Sports%20FC%2024
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20EA%20Vancouver%2C%20EA%20Romania%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20EA%20Sports%3Cbr%3EConsoles%3A%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20One%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Results
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m; Winner: Mcmanaman, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
6.05pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Bawaasil, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Bochart, Fabrice Veron, Satish Seemar
7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Mutaraffa, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
7.50pm: Longines Stakes – Conditions (TB) Dh120,00 (D) 1,900m; Winner: Rare Ninja, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.25pm: Zabeel Trophy – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Alfareeq, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
9pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 2,410m; Winner: Good Tidings, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
9.35pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Zorion, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Sweet%20Tooth
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJim%20Mickle%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristian%20Convery%2C%20Nonso%20Anozie%2C%20Adeel%20Akhtar%2C%20Stefania%20LaVie%20Owen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh317,671
On sale: now
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20SCE%20Studio%20Cambridge%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%2C%20PlayStation%204%20and%205%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Seoul from Dh3,775 return, including taxes
The package
Ski Safari offers a seven-night ski package to Korea, including five nights at the Dragon Valley Hotel in Yongpyong and two nights at Seoul CenterMark hotel, from £720 (Dh3,488) per person, including transfers, based on two travelling in January
The info
Visit www.gokorea.co.uk
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Fifa%20World%20Cup%20Qatar%202022%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFirst%20match%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2020%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%2016%20round%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%203%20to%206%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQuarter-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%209%20and%2010%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESemi-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2013%20and%2014%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2018%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Sugary teas and iced coffees
The tax authority is yet to release a list of the taxed products, but it appears likely that sugary iced teas and cold coffees will be hit.
For instance, the non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Cold coffee brands are likely to be hit too. Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The specs: 2018 Jaguar E-Pace First Edition
Price, base / as tested: Dh186,480 / Dh252,735
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 246hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 365Nm @ 1,200rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Oppenheimer
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristopher%20Nolan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECillian%20Murphy%2C%20Emily%20Blunt%2C%20Robert%20Downey%20Jr%2C%20Florence%20Pugh%2C%20Matt%20Damon%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E5%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
Representing%20UAE%20overseas
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TEST SQUADS
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.