Emiratis approaching their retirement age whose jobs can be compensated with artificial intelligence (AI) can benefit from a possible early retirement scheme.

This comes as part of several initiatives that are being considered to leverage AI and help increase workforce productivity.

Contrary to public fear and previous beliefs that AI will be stealing human jobs, it has proven to assist people in their daily work and increase productivity.

“We must erase society’s fear of artificial intelligence because in reality, it contributes to expanding job opportunities,” said Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, during a Federal National Council session held on Wednesday.

In 2017, many reports speculated 40 per cent of jobs to be lost to AI by 2025, “but we did not see any of that happen; on the contrary, many people benefited from AI in increasing their productivity,” he said.

The UAE is currently focusing on qualifying existing cadres ‘to benefit from the AI revolution and be ready to apply emerging technologies’ in their daily jobs.

“For employees who are approaching their retirement age after a year or two, and their job can be replaced with artificial intelligence, we can consider early retirement for them,” Omar said.

A fund for enabling and empowering Emiratis in the AI industry, or those whose jobs can benefit from it, is also a part of the initiatives the minister is planning on introducing. Several initiatives will be rolled out soon, he added.