Hello there,

OpenAI didn't have much time to bask in the glowing reviews of its GPT-4o demonstration from the previous week.

First off, there was a warning from a former executive, Jan Leike, who said that the AI technology giant had compromised safety.

That warning, however, was soon eclipsed by actress Scarlett Johansson, who raised the possibility of legal action against the company after one of its AI voice conversation offerings bore an incredibly close resemblance to her.

Making matters more interesting was the accusation from Ms Johansson that she earlier declined an offer by OpenAI to use her voice for the technology.

In short, OpenAI seemed to disagree with her timeline of the events, and said they hired a voice actor long-before any offer was made to Ms Johansson. Regardless, they've put a pause on the voice in question.

What does it all mean and what will happen next? That is unknown, but what is clear is that an implementation of AI that looked so promising not long ago is back in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

The Big Story

Prompting innovation

In brief | Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, has announced an initiative that hopes to train one million people in AI prompt engineering over the next three years.

It came shortly after he attended the UAE's inaugural Global Prompt Engineering Championship, where participants from all over the world competed to see who could come up with the best AI prompts in various categories.

Prompt engineering involves creating precise instructions for AI systems to achieve desired outcomes in various tasks, ranging from generating creative content to solving complex challenges.

“Coding was formerly in demand but today prompt engineering has become one of the most promising skills,” Sheikh Hamdan said.

Why it matters | Remember when search engines first started to really hit their stride? The ability to quickly find a niche piece of information on what was then often called the World Wide Web became a highly marketable skill.

Prompt engineering is currently having a similar moment that will probably have a much more profound and lasting impact.

Unlike the initial boom of internet searches, AI prompts go far beyond simple information retrieval.

Prompt engineering can be used to help with complicated coding, generate vast spreadsheets and create incredibly personalised interactions between people and machines.

Using the correct prompts on the various AI large language models can give people, companies and organisations significant strategic advantages.

That's why there's significant interest both in the UAE and around the world to try to make people realise the power of a well thought out AI prompt.

Quoted | “We want to be the most future-ready city and to continue preparing for the AI era by developing expertise and skills that support global technological transformation, placing Dubai at the forefront of innovation.”

– Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai

Future in focus

Playing around | Matt Dalio explains his belief in the power of gaming to transform education

Robust outlook | Why chip maker Nvidia is so optimistic about the months ahead as it plans a 10-for-one stock split

Joint investment | The details behind Abu Dhabi's G42 and Microsoft's $1 billion investment in Kenya's digital infrastructure

Predicting the future: Signal or noise?

One of the bigger announcements made at the Electric Vehicle Innovation Summit in Abu Dhabi this week didn't involve new EV models, but rather, a new joint venture between the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and Etihad Water and Electricity, called UAEV, a charging network fully owned and operated by the government. The network hopes to dramatically expand the country's charging infrastructure.

This is a signal: Despite all the progress made with electric vehicle technology, one of the main barriers to widespread adoption is something the pundits like to call range anxiety. Drivers simply don't want to get stuck somewhere because there's nowhere to plug in. For the most part, with petrol-based cars, the global refuel infrastructure exists, which minimises range anxiety.

The solution to reducing range anxiety in the context of electric vehicles is an easy one: provide more charging stations in more locations. UAEV is a step in that direction. Expect to see similar initiatives resulting in more charging stations not just in the UAE, but around the world.

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