UAE: Early retirement proposed for some citizens whose jobs can be replaced by AI
Emiratis nearing retirement age whose labour is replaceable with artificial intelligence (AI) would stand to benefit from an early retirement scheme.
It’s one of many projects that are in the works to take advantage of AI and help improve workforce efficiency.
Although people are scared of AI and have believed it will usurp humans’ work, it has actually been able to help people with the everyday tasks and boost productivity.
"We must extinguish the dread of artificial intelligence in society because in reality, it opens more job prospects", said Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, Omar Al Olama at a Federal National Council meeting on Wednesday.
‘There were some reports back in 2017 that 40 per cent of jobs were going to be lost to AI by 2025, but there was nothing of that; many individuals were able to reap the benefits of AI by becoming more productive,’ he said.
The UAE now wants to make existing cadres ‘ready to participate in the AI revolution and embrace new technologies’ in their workday.
‘If you have workers who are going to retire in a year or two, and you’re not that much older and your job is AI-powered, then we can make them early retire,’ Omar said.
An AIM fund to support and enable Emiratis working in AI (or those whose jobs can be benefited from it) are among other measures the minister is expected to introduce. "Many programs will be launched in the coming days," he said.
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