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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been raising a lot of questions over the last years. Questions such as

Will AI outsmart humans?

And if yes, when will it happen?

What should we be concerned about when this happens?

are frequently raised by researchers in all kinds of different fields. In fact, there is no law of physics that says we can’t build machines more intelligent than we are (Tegmark, 2017). One country specifically seems to outrun the rest of the world when it comes to answering this question.

The city that has arguably had the largest growth in the world over the last decade has made another huge step this week. The ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has appointed Omar Bin Sultan al-Olama, as State Minister for Artificial Intelligence. This makes the UAE the first country to have a state minister for AI. It is also a huge step into a future that once seemed to be very far away. Having lived in Dubai myself, I am not surprised to see that the UAE is the first to appoint a minister for AI. The country, but specifically Dubai, has progressed tremendously over the last decade; going from a small desert city to one of the most modern and popular cities around the world. Everywhere you look in Dubai, one can see technologies that are still unexplored in the rest of the world. “We want the UAE to become the world’s most prepared country for artificial intelligence,” (Al Arabiya, 2017).

When I first arrived in Dubai, the first thing I noticed, after the ridiculous heat, was that the metros and trams did not have any drivers. Compared to what I had seen in the Netherlands, it felt a bit like stepping into the future. After having spoken to some locals I discovered that these metros were not only self-driven but also used Machine Learning to estimate how long they should wait at each station and how long it would take them to get to the next station. This allowed the predicted arrival time at each station to be correct to nearly the exact second.

Besides the transportation, AI is starting to be used for more and more functions around the city, such as safety, healthcare, and education. While the rest of the world is struggling to even understand what it is and how to use it in everyday life, the UAE seems to embrace Artificial Intelligence and use it for a sustainable future of the country. It raised the question:

Which countries will be next to follow? Are there are other hidden AI hubs?

Are there are other hidden AI hubs?

 

Sources:

English.alarabiya.net. (2017). UAE appoints minsters for AI, Advanced Sciences in new cabinet reshuffle. [online] Available at: https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2017/10/19/UAE-says-to-announce-government-reshuffle.html [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

Russell, S. (2017). Artificial intelligence: The future is superintelligent. [online] Available at: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v548/n7669/full/548520a.html [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017].

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You might have heard about what happened back in 2011. An amazing event. What took biologist more than a decade, was done in less than three weeks by gamers. I’m referring to the Mason Pfizer Monkey Virus, a virus that is specifically related to the autoimmune disease called AIDS. While biologists have spent years trying to figure out what the structure of the virus looked like, gamers uncovered it in less than 1/100th of that time. So why did gamers manage to do the impossible?

There seem to be two main reasons that explains why gamers, without any biological background, could figure out a mystery that was unsolved for a decade. These reasons are motivation and teamwork. The first reason, motivation, comes in the form of competition, and from this stand point, the game has been more than suitably designed. Basically you get scored for three factors: how well you pack the protein, how efficiently you hide the hydrophobic and how you clear the clashes.  Trust me, it’s a lot simpler than it sounds. When the gamers start working on this game, the terms were simplified and the rules of the game just complicated enough to make it an interesting task. Furthermore, the gamers felt a sense of competition that made them want to “win” by performing as best as possible. The game ranked all players and provided a “high score” ranking. For all these reasons, the gamers who decided to tackle this game (60,000 of them) were much more motivated to spend time on the problem.

The second reason is teamwork. While the game had a competitive edge to it, players were able to see the progress of other players. This allowed them to possibly “cheat” on their assignments by getting a head start through information shown by other players. Together, the collaborative brain power of all the 60,000 participants was far more productive than any single scientist could be. Being in connection with all other players also allowed players to team up and come up with strategies together, once again increasing efficiency.

This game showed the true potential of using the combined power of gamers to resolve problems that are threatening to the entire society. Therefore, over the years, more of these games have started appear throughout the world. One of the latest projects that is being launched is called “Automon”. This is a game launched by the Dutch police, in which Dutch citizens can gain points if they find stolen cars. This could be a huge game changer (pun intended) in the way communities work together to solve problems such as crime, diseases and pretty much anything you can think of. To conclude, the everyday gamers of today’s society could soon become the heroes of our time.

 

Coren, M. (2017). Foldit Gamers Solve Riddle of HIV Enzyme within 3 Weeks. [online] Scientific American. Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/foldit-gamers-solve-riddle/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
Nu.nl. (2017). Politie maakt ‘Pókemon-app’ die helpt met opsporen gestolen auto’s. [online] Available at: https://www.nu.nl/apps/4953830/politie-maakt-pokemon-app-helpt-met-opsporen-gestolen-autos.html [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].

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You could say that the traditional mantra ‘location, location, location’ in the travel industry is shifting to ‘knowledge, knowledge, knowledge’. With this in mind, there are several changes that are happening in the leisure industry. Since a couple of years there has been a steady rise in the number of holidays that have been auctioned. The most common way of selling leisure activities and services was always through a “buy-now price”. However, because auctions come with a lot of benefits such as First-Degree Price Discrimination, companies that offer online auction could become the dominant player, instead of the hotels, travel agencies and airlines. This shift is slowly becoming more apparent as some of the larger auction platforms already have more than 7 million visitors per month. (Vakantieveilingen.nl, 2017)

Online B2C companies introduced elements of fun and excitement into the buying process of leisure services. Auctions often result in higher sale prices than the buy-now price due to this fun aspect and something that is known as the Endowment effect. However, online auctions can also come with some negative aspects as well. A problem that arises due to the online auctions is a phenomenon known as the market for lemons. This problem occurs due to the information gap that is present on the buyer’s side of the auction. Hence, the products of high quality are often sold for prices that are not optimal because of the lack of trust. (Akerlof, 1970)

These insights show that the travel industry has seen huge developments in the last few years, and these developments are going to continue for some time. More sales will shift towards auction platforms where travel products and services are offered, and these platforms will gain more and more power as more information is gathered.

The aim of this video is specifically to analyze the benefits and problems that have come with the rise of online auction platforms in the industry of leisure. Finally, we will also share our prediction about what the future of this industry will look like.

 

References:

Akerlof, George A. “The Market for ‘Lemons’: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 84, no. 3, 1970, pp. 488–500. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1879431.

Emesa Nederland BV. “Aanbieders” Vakantieveilingen.nl www.vakantieveilingen.nl/aanbieders.html