Making AI an ally in a fast changing workplace

Making AI an ally in a fast changing workplace

Making AI an ally in a fast changing workplace
Shutterstock illustration image
Short Url

For decades, software was centered around data. Initially, this meant digitizing mountains of paper records, storing them in databases, and retrieving them more efficiently. Tasks that once required sifting through file cabinets, mainframes, or early enterprise systems were then streamlined by technology.

Still, the bulk of real work — whether in a travel agency, a human resources department, or a hospital — continued to be handled by humans. These early digital tools functioned as advanced filing cabinets, saving space and time, but still relied on people to interpret and act on the data they contained.

Then came the cloud era. Large servers maintained offsite replaced the need for clunky hardware in office basements, making information more accessible and less expensive to manage. Yet, this convenience did not dramatically reduce the need for human labor. Even with cloud-based software, professionals continued to handle everything from customer support queries to accounts receivable.

The digital platforms served mainly as centralized repositories; employees were still opening emails, typing responses, making phone calls, and moving information from one system to another. In short, software stored data more efficiently, but it did not fundamentally alter the fact that people were doing the heavy lifting of day-to-day operations.

That is changing. The wave we are witnessing now goes beyond merely adding features or improving convenience. Artificial intelligence is evolving from a tool that primarily organizes and processes data into one that performs tasks traditionally handled by people.

Just a few years ago, the idea of an AI system managing legal paperwork, responding to support emails, tracking payment schedules, or scheduling appointments in multiple languages might have sounded far-fetched. Yet, these capabilities already exist in prototype or limited-release forms, and many organizations find them particularly appealing because AI effectively fills labor gaps.

The difference this time is both economic and practical on a large scale. In the past, software accounted for only a small percentage of most companies’ budgets — a helpful tool to boost employee productivity. Meanwhile, labor costs, benefits, and training far outweighed expenses for databases or office software. When an organization grew, it needed to hire more staff to handle the increased workload.

AI is changing the equation. Instead of only one person answering a number of calls or emails daily, AI can operate around the clock at a fraction of the cost. This shift makes previously unthinkable applications of software not only possible but highly appealing from a business perspective.

This is especially evident in customer support and communication roles. Early chatbots were often clumsy and had frustrating interfaces, only handling the simplest queries. In contrast, new-generation models — trained on massive datasets — can now generate coherent, context-aware responses in real-time.

Instead of functioning as bare-bones frequently-asked-questions systems, these AI agents can learn the nuances of a company’s product line, reference past customer interactions, and adapt their tone to suit different audiences. In many cases, they handle the bulk of mundane interactions independently. Humans now step in only for exceptions or complex issues, effectively becoming “managers” of AI rather than the frontline agents.

The real opportunity lies in combining AI’s labor capabilities with human empathy and insight.

Mohammed A. Al-Qarni

This shift from data to labor extends well beyond customer service. In healthcare, AI can process standard patient forms, allowing nurses and administrative staff to focus more on bedside care. In finance, AI can chase overdue invoices, notify individuals who fall behind on payments, and even negotiate payment plans. In compliance, AI-driven systems can flag suspicious transactions and prepare preliminary reports for human review. In countless other fields, such as insurance underwriting, market research, and creative brainstorming, AI is taking on core responsibilities that were once handled by entire teams.

Naturally, this raises significant questions about employment and skills. If software replaces much of operational work, what happens to those roles?

The history of technological change shows that while some jobs are lost, new opportunities often emerge in areas where technology falls short. When software digitized record-keeping, it didn’t eliminate HR departments; instead, it made them leaner and shifted staff responsibilities from managing paper forms to more strategic, human-centered tasks.

AI promises a similar reallocation. Tasks requiring complex problem-solving, genuine empathy, relationship-building, or physical presence and advanced judgment will remain within human expertise. However, it would be naive to assume this transition will be painless or that new roles will naturally appear for everyone. Success will require active planning, reskilling, and a willingness to redefine roles within organizations.

What sets this wave apart — and makes it potentially more disruptive — is the sheer depth and range of tasks AI can now perform. It is no longer confined to predictable, mechanical processes.

Modern AI systems can analyze nuanced language, generate personalized content, and adapt to new information in real time. This makes them more than just a time-saving device; they become the backbone of operations where speed, consistency, and scale are paramount. Such capability compels organizations to weigh whether to pay people for tasks that AI can handle faster and at lower cost.

At the same time, it is crucial to remember that humans possess inventive, relational, and interpretive qualities that AI cannot replicate. No model — however advanced — can fully capture the warmth of genuine human interaction or the creativity born from lived experience and social context. The real opportunity lies in combining AI’s labor capabilities with human empathy and insight. Freed from repetitive duties, employees can dedicate more energy to strategic thinking, customer relationships, and, ultimately, innovation.

Software was once focused solely on managing data, not on performing the labor behind it. AI has changed that. Tasks once handled by staff, from administrative duties to client follow-ups, can now be managed by intelligent systems at scale. Companies that embrace this shift thoughtfully and responsibly are likely to outpace those that hold onto legacy models. This is not just another upgrade or a feature set; this is a fundamental rethinking of how work itself is accomplished.

Embracing this transition requires building the right frameworks, safeguards, and strategies to make AI an ally, not a threat — transforming what was once a tool for data into a powerful partner in getting things done.

Mohammed A. Al-Qarni is an academic and consultant on AI for business.
 

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

‘Mr Dakar’ Peterhansel returns with Defender for 2026

‘Mr Dakar’ Peterhansel returns with Defender for 2026
Updated 1 min 12 sec ago
Follow

‘Mr Dakar’ Peterhansel returns with Defender for 2026

‘Mr Dakar’ Peterhansel returns with Defender for 2026
  • The Frenchman did not enter this year after Audi withdrew but will be back in Saudi Arabia next January
  • Peterhansel won the Dakar six times on motorcycles

RABAT: ‘Mr Dakar’ Stephane Peterhansel, a record 14 times winner of the Dakar Rally, will return to the gruelling endurance event next year aged 60 as a driver for Jaguar Land Rover’s Defender brand.
The Frenchman, who turns 60 in August, did not enter this year after Audi withdrew but will be back in Saudi Arabia next January competing in the Stock category for production-based vehicles.

It will be Peterhansel’s 36th career Dakar, an event he last won in 2021 with Mini. He will also compete in the full World Rally-Raid Championship.
Peterhansel won the Dakar six times on motorcycles between 1991 and 1998 before switching in 1999 to cars and winning with Mitsubishi, Mini and Peugeot.
“I’m looking forward to taking on this new challenge and together I hope we can take Defender to the top step of the podium,” he said in a statement after prototype testing in Morocco’s Sahara desert.
While Peterhansel holds the record for most wins, Spaniard Carlos Sainz — father of the namesake Formula One driver — is the oldest winner after taking his fourth victory in 2024 at the age of 61.
Defender also announced the signing of Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuska, 25. A third driver and the co-drivers will be announced at a later date.


Lebanon welcomes return of Emirati tourists with pledges to ensure their safety

Lebanon welcomes return of Emirati tourists with pledges to ensure their safety
Updated 4 min 24 sec ago
Follow

Lebanon welcomes return of Emirati tourists with pledges to ensure their safety

Lebanon welcomes return of Emirati tourists with pledges to ensure their safety
  • Nawaf Salam announced that the security services are ready to ensure the safety and security of our Arab brothers during the summer
  • Meeting was attended by the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar, as well as the charge d’affaires of the UAE and Kuwait

BEIRUT: Three UAE planes arriving at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday are scheduled to carry Emirati nationals for the first time since a travel ban was imposed in 2024 due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced that the security services “are ready to ensure the safety and security of our Arab brothers during the summer.”

Salam welcomed the UAE’s decision to lift the ban on its citizens traveling to Lebanon.

During a meeting on Tuesday with the ambassadors of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Salam expressed hope that “this will extend to other Arab countries in the coming weeks.”

The meeting was attended by the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar, as well as the charge d’affaires of the UAE and Kuwait.

On the Lebanese side, the meeting was attended by the ministers of defense, interior, tourism, and public works.

Salam said he listened to the concerns of the ambassadors and assured them that “we will work to address them. I informed them of the security changes taking place at Beirut airport and its surroundings.”

President Salam’s adviser, Mounir Rabie, told Arab News: “The Gulf diplomats raised their concerns regarding the return of their nationals to Lebanon, including the need to improve and develop airport procedures, as well as security and economic concerns.”

Rabie described the atmosphere as “positive.”

He said Lebanon has proposed a plan that will include the formation of a tourism operations room to monitor all security and tourism issues.

According to Salam’s office, the diplomats were briefed on the measures taken by the Lebanese authorities at Beirut airport and its surroundings, including on the roads leading to it, to reassure these countries before they decide to lift the ban on the return of their nationals to Lebanon.

Emirati airlines resumed flights to Beirut last December, but without allowing Emirati citizens to come to Beirut.

The announcement comes after Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun met his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, after which it was announced that the ban would be lifted.

A special reception is scheduled for the UAE passengers at the airport, with Information Minister Paul Morcos participating.

Lebanese officials and the public are counting on this step to revitalize tourism and investment activity in the country, especially in light of the stifling economic crisis it is experiencing.

A ministerial source said: “Efforts are focused on sending reassuring messages domestically and abroad that Lebanon is capable of attracting its Arab brothers once again, given the climate of stability it is keen to maintain through the security and political measures being implemented.”

The lifting of the ban on the return of Emiratis was accompanied by a series of conditions and procedures they must follow, most notably “mandatory registration in the Tawajudi service before traveling to Beirut to ensure their safety and the smooth running of the travel process, whether from the UAE or any other country. This is aimed at ensuring effective communication with citizens while abroad and avoiding the suspension of travel procedures or exposure to legal accountability.”

Emirati citizens must also “fill in the required information, including their place of residence in Lebanon, emergency numbers, and reasons for the visit, with the necessity of updating this information in the event of any change.”


Kenya court fines teens for trying to smuggle protected ants

Kenya court fines teens for trying to smuggle protected ants
Updated 11 min 57 sec ago
Follow

Kenya court fines teens for trying to smuggle protected ants

Kenya court fines teens for trying to smuggle protected ants
  • The case has received considerable attention after the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) accused the four of engaging in “bio-piracy“
  • Lornoy and Lodewijckx were arrested in possession of 5,000 queen ants packed in 2,244 tubes in Nakuru County

NAIROBI: A Kenyan court on Wednesday fined four people, including two Belgian teenagers, more than $7,000 for attempting to smuggle thousands of live ants out of the country.
The case has received considerable attention after the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) accused the four of engaging in “bio-piracy.”
David Lornoy and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 18 of Belgium, Duh Hung Nguyen of Vietnam, and Dennis Nganga of Kenya all pleaded guilty to possession of the ants, but denied seeking to traffic them.
Lornoy and Lodewijckx were arrested in possession of 5,000 queen ants packed in 2,244 tubes in Nakuru County, around 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the capital Nairobi.
Duh and Nganga were found with ants stored in 140 syringes packed with cotton wool and two containers, according to a charge sheet seen by AFP.
The senior magistrate, Njeri Thuku, made a reference to the slave trade while passing judgment.
“Imagine being violently removed from your home and packed into a container with many others like you. Then imagine being isolated and squeezed into a tiny space where the only source of nourishment for the foreseeable future is glucose water,” she wrote.
“It almost sounds as if the reference above is to slave trade. Yet, it is not slave trade, but it is illegal wildlife trade.”
Lornoy was described as an “ant enthusiast” who kept colonies at home in Belgium and was member of a Facebook group called “Ants and Ant Keeping,” according to the sentencing report.
He told investigators he was not aware that transporting the ants was illegal.
Police had put the value of the ants taken by the Belgians at one million shillings ($7,740).
The haul included the rare Messor cephalotes species, a single queen ant that currently sells for at least $99 each, according to the court report.
Possession of any wildlife specimen or trophy without a permit is a criminal offense in Kenya, with suspects normally subject to a fine of up to $10,000 and five years or more in prison.
The court ultimately sentenced all four to a fine of one million shillings ($7,740), or a year in prison if they failed to pay.
The court said Lornoy and Lodewijckx “do not come across as typical poachers” and were ignorant of the law.
But it said the case reflected a script “that has been played out before in centuries gone by... of Africa having resources that are plundered by the West and now the East.”
The KWS said their action was not only a “wildlife crime but also constitutes bio-piracy.”
The suspects “intended to smuggle the ants to high-value exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia, where demand for rare insect species is rising,” it said in a statement.


UK firms sent thousands of military munitions to Israel despite arms export ban, report finds

UK firms sent thousands of military munitions to Israel despite arms export ban, report finds
Updated 14 min 42 sec ago
Follow

UK firms sent thousands of military munitions to Israel despite arms export ban, report finds

UK firms sent thousands of military munitions to Israel despite arms export ban, report finds
  • ‘8,630 separate munitions’ sent to Israel in the category of ‘bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles’ since suspension of 30 arms-export licenses in September
  • Analysis by campaign groups of Israel Tax Authority data also finds deliveries of F-35 components as recently as March

LONDON: UK firms continued to send thousands of arms and other military items to Israel despite an announcement by the British government in September that it was suspending about 30 arms-export licenses for the country, according to a report published on Wednesday.

Campaign groups — including the Palestinian Youth Movement, Progressive International, and Workers for a Free Palestine — analyzed data from the Israel Tax Authority and found that UK businesses were still sending shipments of military items, including munitions, arms and aircraft parts.

Their report states that F-35 fighter jet components were delivered to Israel as recently as March, more than five months after the UK government suspended the 30 arms-export licenses, including a ban on aircraft parts. Fighter aircraft, including F-35s and combat drones, have been a critical element of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, carrying out airstrikes across the territory.

The report said that 8,630 separate munitions had been sent since the license suspensions in September 2024 in the category of “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and similar munitions of war and parts thereof.” UK firms also delivered four shipments of arms to Israel that included 146 items identified under a customs code as “tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, motorised, whether or not fitted with weapons, and parts of such vehicles.”

The authors of the report also found evidence that 150,000 bullets were shipped from the UK to Israel in October 2023, prior to the suspension of the licenses.

John McDonnell, a former Labour shadow chancellor, and MP Zarah Sultana have sent a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy calling for an investigation into the report’s findings.

Lammy told Parliament in October that much of the military equipment the UK sends to Israel “is defensive in nature. It is not what we describe routinely as arms.”

McDonnell and Sultana said it would be a resignation issue if it was discovered that he misled parliament and the public about the suspension of arms-export licenses to Israel.

They also called for an immediate halt to all arms exports to Israel and said the public “deserves to know the full scale of the UK’s complicity in crimes against humanity.”

Sultana said: “This explosive report shows the government has been lying to us about the arms it is supplying to Israel while it wages genocide in Gaza. Far from ‘helmets and goggles,’ the government has been sending thousands of arms and ammunition goods.”

McDonnell called on the government to “come clean in response to this extremely concerning evidence and halt all British arms exports to Israel to ensure no British-made weapons are used in Netanyahu’s new and terrifying plans to annex the Gaza Strip and ethnically cleanse the land.”

The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians since the start of the war in October 2023, following the deadly attack by Hamas on southern Israel.

The Israeli government faces an ongoing case at the International Court of Justice over its military actions in Gaza, which have led to a humanitarian crisis and mass killings. In addition, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crimes against humanity and war crimes related to the war in Gaza.

In a statement to The Guardian newspaper, a Foreign Office spokesperson said: “This government has suspended relevant licenses for the (Israeli army) that might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.

“Of the remaining licenses for Israel, the vast majority are not for the Israeli Defense Forces but are for civilian purposes or reexport, and therefore are not used in the war in Gaza. The only exemption is the F-35 program due to its strategic role in NATO and wider implications for international peace and security.

“Any suggestion that the UK is licensing other weapons for use by Israel in the war in Gaza is misleading. The UK totally opposes an expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. We urge all parties to return urgently to talks, implement the ceasefire agreement in full, secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas, and work towards a permanent peace.”


Saudi foreign minister discusses ties with American counterpart ahead of Trump’s visit

Saudi foreign minister discusses ties with American counterpart ahead of Trump’s visit
Updated 34 min 12 sec ago
Follow

Saudi foreign minister discusses ties with American counterpart ahead of Trump’s visit

Saudi foreign minister discusses ties with American counterpart ahead of Trump’s visit
  • Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Marco Rubio held a phone call on Wednesday
  • Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji spoke with his American counterpart Christopher Landau

RIYADH: Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan reviewed ties and strategic partnership with the US during a phone call with Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, on Wednesday.

The officials discussed the latest regional and international developments, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

In a separate phone call, Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji discussed issues of common interest with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.

Saudi Arabia is set to receive President Donald Trump on his trip to the Middle East next week.