UAE tech firm Alef launches schools AI initiative

Education technology firm says in talks with other schools to roll out software

Alef, a technology company headed up by UAE government veteran Dr Saleh Al Hashemi, has launched pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) software in a private school in Abu Dhabi.

Alef said it is holding discussions with other private and public schools in an attempt to roll out its software in academic institutions across the rest of the GCC, Egypt and India in future.

The Alef software is a “technology enabled education solution”, according to the company.

It is intended to aid classroom learning through immersive, multilingual AI technology that encourages students to self learn a school’s curriculum at their own pace.

The software shifts the education process from the traditional teacher-centered model to a learner-centric model, with the teacher adopting the role of facilitator rather than leader, Alef said in a statement.

On Sunday Alef launched a pilot with 240 students at a private school in Abu Dhabi. But it hopes to expand provision of the futuristic education platform in due course.

Al Hashemi, a former executive director of infrastructure and environment at the General Secretariat of Abu Dhabi’s Executive Council, and CEO of Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG)-owned Integrated Capital, said: “Alef’s launch [on Sunday] is the start of a journey to bring about an overhaul of the status quo to usher in a new paradigm in education.

“Given the rate at which technology and industry continue to evolve, it is [hard to predict] what future workplaces will look like, let alone understand the skills required of their workforces.

“As every sector of society undergoes some form of 21st century revolution, the education sector cannot, and should not, get left behind. [It] must be at the heart of our global technological journey.”

Read more: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/education/378279-uae-tech-firm-alef-launches-schools-ai-initiative