Tech News : UAE First Country Using AI To Write Laws

The United Arab Emirates has become the first country in the world to officially use artificial intelligence to write, review and amend its federal and local laws, a move that is already sparking global debate about the future of governance.

A Bold Leap Into AI-Driven Legislation

In a decision that has stunned many policy experts, the UAE government has announced the creation of a new cabinet unit, the Regulatory Intelligence Office, which will oversee a sweeping AI-powered legislative programme. This will not only draft new laws but also monitor, review, and update existing ones using advanced AI systems.

Speaking through state media, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai and UAE Prime Minister, said:  “This new legislative system, powered by artificial intelligence, will change how we create laws, making the process faster and more precise.”

For example, instead of human committees debating potential changes over months, AI will now be tasked with analysing legal data, case law, and societal impacts to suggest amendments in real-time. The move actually builds on years of strategic investment as the UAE appointed the world’s first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Omar Sultan Al Olama, back in 2017 and launched its UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence shortly after.

Why Is This Move So Unusual?

In short, while many governments globally are experimenting with AI to summarise bills, automate paperwork, or assist with public services, none have gone as far as allowing AI to actively co-write and amend legislation.

Rony Medaglia, professor at Copenhagen Business School, has been quoted as describing the move as  “very bold,”  noting it shifts AI from being a mere administrative tool to becoming  “some sort of co-legislator.”

For example, the AI will not just analyse existing laws but will also proactively predict areas needing reform, based on economic trends, legal precedents, and public service data. This predictive approach, experts argue, is unheard of on a national scale.

However, it’s worth noting here that details about the specific AI models and their safeguards remain limited at this stage. Questions also linger about how much human oversight will accompany the automated recommendations.

What Does It Mean for the UAE?

It seems that officials are optimistic, as the UAE cabinet predicts that AI will speed up the lawmaking process by 70 per cent, cut government costs by up to 50 per cent, and could ultimately boost the nation’s GDP by around 35 per cent by 2030.

The move is also being seen as a strategic step to cement the UAE’s position as a leader in digital governance and regulatory innovation. For example, by creating a massive database of all federal and local laws, combined with court judgments and government service outcomes, the AI system will be able to evaluate how laws impact the population and the economy in near real-time.

Global Ambition

From a geopolitical perspective, the UAE’s willingness to experiment at scale reflects its broader ambition to position itself as a global AI hub, alongside its major investments such as MGX, an AI-focused sovereign investment vehicle launched last year.

What Could It Mean for Other Countries?

The UAE’s decision could set a powerful precedent. Other nations, especially those with more centralised or technocratic governments, may watch closely to see if AI-driven lawmaking improves efficiency, lowers costs, and boosts citizen satisfaction.

However, democratic countries, where legislative processes are deliberately slower to encourage scrutiny and debate, may find it harder to adopt similar systems without triggering political backlash. For example, in Europe, strict regulations like the EU’s AI Act, and public sensitivities around data privacy and algorithmic transparency, would make a UAE-style rollout far more contentious.

Impact on Businesses in the UAE and Beyond

For businesses operating within the UAE (or trading with companies there) the implications could be profound. A faster, more dynamic legislative environment could create opportunities for innovation, but could also create some uncertainty. For example, regulations affecting sectors like fintech, healthcare, and renewable energy could change more quickly and unpredictably than before, depending on AI-driven assessments of sector performance and risk.

At the same time, companies may benefit from clearer, more data-driven legal frameworks if the AI is successful in creating laws that better match economic realities. International companies dealing with the UAE may therefore need to stay especially vigilant, investing in legal monitoring systems that can track rapid regulatory shifts suggested by AI analyses.

Criticisms and Challenges

Despite the excitement, experts have warned of some significant risks from a move like this. One major concern is reliability. As Vincent Straub (an AI researcher at Oxford University) has noted, current AI models still “hallucinate” (a technical term for making up false or misleading information) and suffer from robustness issues, warning that  “We can’t trust them”. For example, AI could recommend a law amendment that, while mathematically sound, may be legally nonsensical or socially harmful. Without some critical degree of human oversight, these proposals could therefore pose real dangers.

Bias in training data is another key issue. If historical laws and court rulings contain systemic biases, the AI could perpetuate or even amplify these flaws unless carefully corrected. As Marina De Vos, a computer scientist at the University of Bath has cautioned, without tight  “guardrails,”  the AI might produce recommendations that  “make sense to a machine”  but are utterly impractical for human societies.

Transparency is also a key concern here. Legal decisions require clear rationales, yet many AI systems operate as “black boxes” whose reasoning is opaque even to their developers. This could undermine trust in the legislative process if not carefully managed.

Also, while the UAE’s political system enables rapid innovation, some critics have pointed out that democratic oversight may be limited. In countries with more public participation in governance, rolling out similar AI programmes would likely face heavy scrutiny and slower adoption.

What’s Next?

It remains unclear which AI platforms the UAE will deploy for this historic experiment. Experts suggest the government may need to combine multiple models to handle the complexities of legislative drafting, economic modelling, and ethical review.

The Regulatory Intelligence Office is expected to start work immediately, with AI-written and AI-amended laws anticipated to appear before the end of the year.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The UAE’s decision to embed AI at the heart of its legislative process marks a pioneering moment not just for the Gulf region, but for the world at large. By embracing technology in this way, the UAE is signalling a future where governments may no longer be the sole authors of their own laws, but co-creators with machines capable of absorbing vast datasets and drawing new insights at unprecedented speed. Yet with such a bold move comes an equally bold set of risks, from reliability concerns to the potential for unseen biases and a lack of transparency.

For UK businesses (and indeed any company trading with or operating within the UAE), the impact could be significant. A faster-moving legal environment may unlock new opportunities, particularly for sectors like finance, technology, and renewable energy, where regulatory agility can be a major advantage. However, it also means firms will need to be increasingly proactive, keeping a close watch on legislative changes that could emerge with far less warning than under traditional systems. Investing in legal risk management and maintaining close ties with local partners will likely become even more critical for safeguarding operations in the region.

More broadly, the UAE’s experiment could provide valuable lessons for policymakers, businesses, and citizens around the world. Whether AI can truly deliver faster, fairer, and more effective governance remains to be seen, but what is clear already is that the global conversation around the role of technology in public life has entered a new and more urgent phase. As the first test case plays out in the UAE, the stakes will be watched closely by governments, regulators, and businesses alike (including here in the UK), where balancing innovation with accountability remains an ever-delicate task.