Michelle El Gemayel, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF), notes the rapid penetration of artificial intelligence into the creative environment of the UAE, characterizing it as fast, inexpensive, and impossible to ignore. He focuses not so much on the flow of new content, but on the small portion of work that will retain its significance in ten years.
According to El Gemayel, the decisive question is not the mere fact of artists using AI, as this debate, he says, is already settled. He is interested in a more complex aspect: works that remain in memory are those where the technology is almost invisible because the idea is so strong that the technology merely serves it.
The UAE's creative community is divided on AI. Previously, in May, the Khaleej Times reported that local musicians and producers opposed songs created with AI and cloned vocals, warning of the erosion of originality and the blurring of authorship. At this year's Art Dubai exhibition, digital artists used the same tools to question concepts of ownership, memory, and the degree of dependence of daily life on invisible machines.
El Gemayel maintains a neutral stance, neither defending nor resisting AI, but aiming to establish a certain standard for it. This standard is now formalized in a competition organized by ADMAF in collaboration with the technology company Abu Dhabi G42 and the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI). The prize fund amounts to 50,000 dirhams, and the competition is open to visual artists, designers, technologists, and researchers based in the country.
Shortlisted participants gain the opportunity to take part in an intensive program at MBZUAI, where they work side-by-side with researchers at one of the world's leading AI institutions. El Gemayel emphasizes that participants do not observe from afar, but actively participate in testing and refining ideas with experts who are expanding the boundaries of the field. The program covers both the tools themselves and the associated ethical issues. Artists come with proposals and leave with a more refined project and skills that will remain with them after completing the course.
El Gemayel avoids prescribing a theme or style, insisting that what matters is the genuine idea expressed through technology so completely that the two elements cannot be separated. In his words, the strongest works are those that could not exist without the joint presence of the idea and the tool. For the UAE audience, memory is an important part of this idea. He appreciates work that puts the country's culture into dialogue with new tools, presenting it to new audiences in fresh and beautiful forms—that is, 'works that hold the past and present in one frame.'
This approach aligns with broader national efforts to preserve Emirati identity in the age of technology, including the development of Arabic language AI models and public discussions about heritage in the context of automation. The country has the necessary prerequisites: Stanford University's AI Index for 2026 ranked the UAE second globally for AI adoption (54 percent), behind Singapore, and noted the accelerated growth of skills in this area. El Gemayel believes that the mere availability of tools is not the problem, but rather the rare quality of knowing how to use them correctly. He sees this principle of restraint among the artists ADMAF is researching for future exhibitions: they use AI when it serves the idea, not just because it is available. When an artist reaches this level, the technology becomes another means in their hands. Applications for the competition close on August 14, and the winning work must be presented at the Abu Dhabi Festival in 2027.
