His Highness Sheikh Theyab bin Zayed Al Nahyan immediately attended the inaugural graduation ceremony of the world’s first graduate analysis college in synthetic intelligence (AI), the Mohamed bin Zayed College of Synthetic Intelligence (MBZUAI), the place 52 college students from 24 international locations , together with eight emirates. , obtained postgraduate levels in the important thing areas of synthetic intelligence, pc imaginative and prescient and machine studying.
They participated within the occasion HE Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Trade and Superior Know-how of the United Arab Emirates, President-designate of COP28 United Arab Emirates and Chairman of the Board of Administrators of MBZUAI; HE Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of Financial system and Finance; HE Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Synthetic Intelligence, Digital Financial system and Distant Work Purposes; HE Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, UAE Minister of State for Public Schooling and Future Know-how and Chairman of the Emirates Colleges Institution Board and Professor Eric Xing, MBZUAI Chairman and College Professor; along with the Members of the Board of Administrators and the college college.
At graduation, 63% of the inaugural class had confirmed employment, Ph.D. placements, paid internships or startups; and of those, 91% will stay within the UAE to proceed contributing to Abu Dhabi’s AI ecosystem.
In his keynote handle, HE Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber spoke in regards to the significance of MBZUAI and the potential of recent graduates to generate constructive change: “When MBZUAI was based by our management in 2019, its mission was clear: and that is to harnesses the facility of synthetic intelligence to advance world progress. MBZUAI has been purpose-built as a catalyst for analysis throughout a number of sectors, together with enterprise, IT, power, transport, training and healthcare and sustainability – and also you, MBZUAI’s inaugural graduating class, would be the pioneers serving to to remodel this analysis in actuality”. he mentioned.
With local weather change excessive on the agenda through the ’12 months of Sustainability’ and forward of Cop28, HE Dr Al Jaber additionally highlighted the significance of AI abilities in addressing this world problem. “We have to maintain world temperature rise to 1.5 levels with out slowing financial progress. We have to make our planet richer and more healthy on the similar time. And I’ve little doubt that you just, the primary graduating class of MBZUAI, maintain a few of the keys to the transformative advances we’d like,” he mentioned.
Dr Al Jaber added: “COP 28 would be the first COP to formally embody a youth champion, with the appointment of His Excellency Shamma Al Mazrui, the UAE Minister of Youth. We did this as a result of we wish to empower the voices, ardour, positivity and drive for progress that younger folks convey to the desk. These qualities, mixed along with your abilities, are a robust mixture, and I’ve little doubt that our collective future can be brighter consequently.”
And he concluded by saying to the scholars:
“Bear in mind, progress is pushed by curiosity, constructive dialogue, connectivity, arduous work, persistence and impatience. So, get on the market and be passionate and impactful for the betterment of humanity. And if you happen to take one message from me immediately, that is it. Deal with the details. Deal with Science. Deal with outcomes. Deal with supply. Deal with making a constructive contribution. You may have the facility, information and abilities to unite a divided world to offer the options the world wants immediately.”
HE Bruno Le Maire, French Minister for Financial system and Finance, mentioned: “France and the UAE have a protracted and well-established diplomatic relationship, one constructed on sturdy strategic, cultural, enterprise and financial ties, which is able to develop even nearer through the coming many years as our two nations proceed to seek out methods to make use of expertise to enhance our international locations. Synthetic intelligence is a key expertise that France and the UAE will collaborate on within the subsequent decade.”
Professor Xing mentioned: “I congratulate our graduates of the Class of 2022 for reaching this outstanding milestone. This might not be achieved with out the imaginative and prescient and help of our management, and the arduous work and dedication of our college and workers. As the muse for the UAE’s technological competitiveness in synthetic intelligence, MBZUAI is dedicated to conducting transformative analysis, creating cutting-edge expertise and coaching artistic and hardworking expertise. We aspire that our graduates will proceed to push the boundaries of data and expertise and be empowered by the information they’ve gained from the college to serve society”.
Following the kick-off ceremony, MBZUAI organized the AI and Sustainability Symposium, which noticed synthetic intelligence consultants focus on next-generation options to spice up sustainability. Professor Eric Xing, President and College Professor of MBZUAI, was joined by Professor Daniela Rus, Director of the Informatics and Synthetic Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT and member of the MBZUAI Board of Administrators, in addition to Phil Blunsom, Chief Scientist at Cohere .AI, and professor at Oxford. The panel was moderated by Professor Timothy Baldwin, MBZUAI Interim Provost, Affiliate Provost for Tutorial Affairs and Chair of the Pure Language Processing Appearing Division. Consultants mentioned a spread of sustainability points going through the AI neighborhood, figuring out areas of alternative and congratulating the graduating class as they handle them.
MBZUAI is on the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution, inspiring the subsequent era of synthetic intelligence consultants as a part of the UAE’s nationwide technique. The college’s analysis solves real-world nationwide and world challenges in lots of sectors: healthcare, transport, logistics, surroundings, power, good cities, manufacturing and fintech, amongst others. Examples embody pioneering work with the UAE Genome Mission, Arabic NLP analysis in partnership with IBM, and AI working programs to speed up AI adoption in business.
