Why Dubai Is Teaching AI to Kids as Young as 4 — And What the World Can Learn

I'm Parikshet More. I'm 11 years old. I live in Dubai. And I think the place I live in is doing something genuinely extraordinary with AI education — something that the rest of the world is not paying enough attention to. Here is what it looks like from the inside.

The World's First AI Minister at 27

In 2017, the UAE appointed Omar Al Olama as Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence. He was 27 years old — the world's youngest government AI minister. This was not a symbolic move. The UAE government created a full national AI strategy, set hard targets for AI's contribution to GDP by 2031, and began systematically building the infrastructure — research universities, curriculum, investment frameworks — to hit those targets.

Most countries were still debating whether AI was a technology or a policy issue. The UAE decided to treat it as both, simultaneously, with a minister responsible for it.

AI in Every Classroom, From Age 4

For the 2025–2026 school year, the UAE Ministry of Education made AI a compulsory standalone subject in all government schools — from kindergarten to Grade 12. Not as part of computing class. Not as an optional enrichment activity. As its own subject, on the timetable, with its own curriculum, taught by over 1,000 specially trained teachers.

A 4-year-old in a Dubai public school now has scheduled AI learning time. At that age it is not about coding or models — it is about what AI tools are, how they help people, and the basics of working with technology responsibly. By the time those children are my age, they will have had years of structured AI exposure that most kids in other countries will never get.

I find this extraordinary. My school friends who grew up here talk about AI the way I talk about it — as a normal tool with specific uses and limits, not as magic or as something to fear. That normalisation starts early and it matters.

One Million Prompters — Free, for Everyone

In January 2025, the Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence launched One Million Prompters. The goal: train one million people in prompt engineering over three years. Free. Online. Four modules, one hour each.

I completed it. The modules cover: what AI tools are and how to access them, how to write effective prompts, how to use AI for productivity and creative work, and responsible AI use. The certification is recognised and carries the Dubai government's brand.

Over 5,000 people registered in the first 24 hours. It is open to anyone in the world at dub.ai/en/omp/. The UAE is not just educating its own citizens — it is positioning Dubai as the world's AI literacy hub.

The World's First AI University

Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi is the world's first graduate-level university dedicated entirely to AI. It launched an undergraduate BSc in AI in March 2025 — one of the few countries where you can now do your entire university degree in artificial intelligence at an institution purpose-built for it.

For high school students, MBZUAI runs a NextGen summer programme — hands-on AI workshops designed for students in Grades 10–12. This is the pipeline: school curriculum from age 4, structured programmes in secondary school, university specialisation at MBZUAI, then into an industry where the UAE has committed $148 billion in AI investment by 2031.

The $96 Billion Target

The UAE's National AI Strategy 2031 targets AI contributing $96 billion to UAE GDP by 2031. To put that in context: the UAE's total GDP is currently around $500 billion. They are planning for AI to represent almost 20% of their economy within five years.

To hit that target you need engineers, researchers, product managers, and entrepreneurs who understand AI. Starting that pipeline at kindergarten is not idealism — it is industrial strategy.

What This Means for Kids Outside the UAE

Most countries are still treating AI as a technology issue. The UAE is treating it as an education issue, an economic issue, and a national identity issue simultaneously. The gap between kids educated in AI-first systems and those who are not will matter enormously when my generation enters the workforce.

You do not need to be in Dubai to get AI education. The One Million Prompters course is free and open to the world. MBZUAI publishes research publicly. And resources like this blog exist specifically because I believe kids everywhere deserve access to the kind of AI understanding that Dubai is now making compulsory.

I am proud to live here. And I think the world should be paying more attention.