Emirates: More than 50 per cent of the jobs in institutions worldwide, including those in the UAE, are expected to be automated as artificial intelligence with generative capabilities is poised to revolutionise the education sector, an expert has said.

“While traditional AI in education and workforce training automated around 15 per cent of job tasks, the introduction of GPT-4 has significantly increased this figure, enabling more than half of educator job tasks to be automated to some extent. So, the whole world of education will change…in higher education, vocational education, and K-12 as well,” said Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda.

Speaking at the launch of Coursera’s new AI features and products to support UAE’s talent transformation agenda toward a digital future, he stressed that AI can not only analyse the learning patterns of individual students and provide customised learning materials catering to their specific needs and learning pace, but it can also automate administrative tasks such as grading, scheduling, and resource allocation, allowing educators to focus more on teaching and “accelerating the way people work”.

With a selection of more than 4,000 courses translated into Arabic using AI, individuals in the UAE can now learn from top educators worldwide, enabling them to enhance their skills for the digital era.

As the national digital economy is projected to increase by US$140 billion by 2031, the online course provider aims to bridge the UAE’s digital skill gap and equip learners with in-demand skills, supporting the country’s economic growth.

Maggioncalda added: “Our mission is to create equal access to world-class learning, and today marks a big moment as we use the power of AI to bridge the language gap for millions across the country."

Popular courses in UAE

Some of the most popular courses in the UAE include How to Learn from Deep Teaching Solutions, Introduction to Data Analytics from IBM, and Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills from University of Michigan.

Learners can access course readings, lecture video subtitles, quizzes, assessments, peer review instructions, and discussion prompts — all in the local language.

The translated content will be initially accessible to Coursera for Business, Campus, and government customers and will be rolled out to all learners in the coming months.

Coursera enters into agreement with UAE ministry

The typical age of learners in the UAE is around 34 years, comprising individuals already established in their careers or contemplating one.

“Among them, 41 per cent are women and 59 per cent are men. Additionally, 43 per cent of Coursera learners utilise mobile devices for their learning.”

Meanwhile, Coursera also entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Education (MoE) in the UAE for universities here to pave the way to accept the ACE (it looks at the credit-worthiness of non-traditional learning content) accredited courses.

The ministry stated that it supports integrating quality online material into the university curriculum. “These are underway and progressing well. But I think what's clear is that the Ministry of Education really wants to make sure that the curriculum is available to Emiratis,” it added.

Curated pathways for the Dubai police

Dubai Police and Coursera have collaborated to create job-relevant learning pathways for leaders, managers, and executives that involve soft skills, crisis management, cyber security, expanding into data-related skills.

So far, 3,300 course enrolments have been witnessed with 16,000 lessons completed and 6,000 learning hours. A senior official at the event said that the Dubai Police are introducing 'Grow with Google' scholarships for the force and their family members.

In the upcoming phase of the partnership, the horizon will be broadened to integrate Career Academy, online training for professional and technical careers.