On March 10, 2023, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, unveiled the 'Smart Mission' initiative in Abu Dhabi. This project aims to revolutionize the country's consular services by integrating artificial intelligence to streamline processes and expedite assistance for UAE citizens facing emergencies abroad. The underlying system is a collaboration between NCR and Authentic Interactions. The project introduces "virtual employees" and AI-driven systems that provide interactive help to users. These digital personnel are designed to offer a direct, human-like interaction without requiring a physical staff member to be present, making the experience more intuitive for citizens.
Real-Time Emergency Assistance: A primary focus of the AI integration is to provide immediate responses to citizens facing emergencies abroad. The AI helps streamline these urgent "conversations" or requests, ensuring that support is expedited during critical situations.
Hologram and 3D Technology: Part of the "conversational" experience includes the use of Authentic Interaction's HoloGlass technology. These displays allow citizens to engage with services in a more immersive and interactive format, ensuring that help is not just a static text-based process but a dynamic interaction.
Facial Recognition and Seamless Service: By using AI-powered facial recognition, the mission removes the need for traditional manual identification steps. This allows the "conversation" between the citizen and the government service to be proactive and seamless, as the system can recognize the user and provide tailored consular services (like document attestation or issuing certificates) instantly. Authentic interactions integrated interactive Q&A retrieval, branching dialog with NCR kiosk hardware to scan and print documents on demand.
In summary, AI conversations in the Smart Mission are about replacing traditional, paper-heavy bureaucracy with interactive, virtual, and proactive digital interfaces that provide 24/7 support to UAE nationals around the world. The 'Smart Mission' is designed to provide faster, more efficient support to Emiratis overseas, particularly during crises. By leveraging AI technology, the initiative seeks to enhance the responsiveness and effectiveness of the UAE's diplomatic missions, ensuring timely and personalized assistance for its citizens worldwide.
Read the full article at The National News
