How UAE residents use AI
Everyone talks about AI adoption in the UAE. We went to Dubai Marina, Business Bay, and Deira and asked real people. Here is what we found.
The methodology
Between May 7-12, 2026, we conducted face-to-face and WhatsApp interviews with 50 UAE residents across three demographic groups: young professionals (25–35), middle-income expat workers (35–50), and UAE nationals. Respondents came from 18 nationalities. This is a small sample and not statistically representative, but it is more honest than a press release from a tech company.
Finding 1: ChatGPT dominates, but most people use it for one thing
42 of 50 respondents had used ChatGPT in the past month. But when asked what they used it for, 38 said the same thing: writing and editing. WhatsApp messages to landlords, emails to bosses, cover letters, complaints to utilities. The use of AI as a writing assistant for non-native English speakers was overwhelming.
“I use ChatGPT to write emails in English. My English is fine but it helps me sound more professional. My company doesn’t know I do this.” — Logistics coordinator, Pakistani national, Dubai
The mainstream narrative about AI focuses on automation and research. The actual dominant use case among regular UAE residents is language confidence assistance for people working in their second or third language.
Finding 2: AI anxiety is real and mostly unaddressed
31 of 50 respondents expressed some form of anxiety about AI. Among younger respondents (25–35), the dominant anxiety was job displacement. Among older respondents (35–50), anxiety was more immediate: am I being left behind by colleagues using these tools better?
Only 4 of 50 respondents said their employer had provided any training on AI tools. The rest figured it out independently.
Finding 3: Arabic AI tools are seen as significantly worse
Arabic-speaking respondents — 22 of the 50 — were notably consistent: AI tools perform significantly worse in Arabic. Responses were described as “formal and stiff,” “like a government department,” and “it makes mistakes with Gulf dialect.”
This perception gap represents a real barrier to AI adoption among Arabic speakers and a significant market opportunity for any AI provider that improves Arabic-language performance.
What UAE residents actually want from AI
- Better Arabic language quality, especially Gulf dialect
- Confidence that their data is not being used to train models
- Simple, guided tools for specific tasks rather than open-ended chat
Surveyed by Robius editorial team across Dubai in May 2026. Respondents self-selected via in-person interviews and WhatsApp recruitment. This is a qualitative sample, not a statistical survey.
