Alumni Spotlight: on a mission to combat AI illiteracy

Monday, October 28, 2024

“My interest in AI did not start with my academic journey,” explains Abdulaziz Aleissaee, a member of the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence inaugural graduating class. He currently works as a Senior Specialist in Artificial Intelligence at Abu Dhabi Media Company.

“Growing up, I was always passionate about video games and curious about Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) and how you play against them, as they are set in certain hypothetical gaming situations,” he says “I wanted to learn how these characters worked and behaved differently according to the game being played and my gaming input. It wasn’t until years later that I found that NPCs are made adaptive using the help of AI, offering gamers with a unique experience each time they play. It was video games that channeled my curiosity and since then, I have always wanted to learn more about AI.”

Aleissaee’s early inquisitiveness about characters in video games shaped his choice of career and his successful journey as an AI specialist. His pre-occupation with the idea of AI and its capabilities provided him with the opportunity to lead a pioneering role at one of the largest media companies in the Middle East, where he is implementing cutting-edge AI-enabled solutions.

Aleissaee pursued a bachelor’s degree in information security engineering technology, with a focus on Software development, after which he secured an internship as a Software Developer at the National Space Science and Technology Centre.

“I was thrilled to receive an internship opportunity at the National Space Science and Technology Center,” he recalls. “I had no prior knowledge or experience within the satellites or space industry and had to learn everything from scratch, with the guidance of my seniors and colleagues at the time. I remember studying the core flight system framework that was developed by NASA, including its feasibility and implementation.

“I was fascinated by the different types of engineers and scientists who were working on the real-life satellites – something I never thought I would see outside of the news. It was a great experience.”

Taking up a golden opportunity

Aleissaee’s AI journey accelerated shortly after joining Abu Dhabi Media Company as an IT Security Specialist.  A year later, he was accepted into MBZUAI as part of the first batch at the world’s first graduate-level, research-based AI university. He was one of 14 Emirati students among a cohort of 78 from 29 countries across the world, all of whom were selected from more than 2,000 global applications. It was a moment that reshaped his career at Abu Dhabi Media Company as it helped him discover his passion for teaching others and sharing his experience and love for AI.

“To me, being accepted into the first cohort was a golden opportunity that could happen once in a lifetime,” he says. “Throughout my journey at MBZUAI, I had the chance to network with professionals and learn from individuals with expertise in different domains. I was surrounded by colleagues with backgrounds in mathematics, robotics and other sectors. Regardless of our prior academic knowledge, we were all gathered to learn how to utilize AI across several industries.”

“My area of focus in the MBZUAI was in the Computer Vision department, specializing in remote sensing. At my university, I had the fortunate opportunity to publish my first survey paper with my colleague Amandeep Kumar, under the guidance of Professor Fahad Khan, discussing the role of transformers in remote sensing. Building on our research, our thesis was centered on the development of enhanced algorithm based on VITAe V2 transformer for remote sensing.

“Our approach introduced a vision transformer architecture that is built on texture-coded mapped images alongside standard RGB pixel values, addressing a gap in previous methods that relied solely on RGB data. Our experiments showed that this new design outperforms standard vision transformers.”

After graduation, Aleissaee returned to Abu Dhabi Media Company to continue in his role as IT security specialist, but with the added responsibility as a de facto AI consultant.

“Because of my experience at the university, I was involved in AI projects across all departments of the company,” says the alumnus.

“Working on various projects was especially exciting for me, as I was involved in cybersecurity, where I had the opportunity to develop AI-driven, innovative solutions for the company. I consider myself fortunate to be part of an organization that embraces AI and fosters knowledge and experience sharing, which I believe is a key factor behind Abu Dhabi Media Company’s success and continuous advancement.”

“In fact, when I returned to the organization, my colleagues were very interested to learn more about the course, what I had learned, and how we might apply it. This is what encouraged me to become an AI trainer.”

Discovering a passion for education

“One of the main factors that pushed me into becoming an AI trainer, was my colleagues’ curiosity to learn about my course from MBZUAI,” Aleissaee continues. “My colleagues would frequently ask what I had learned and how can I apply my knowledge in the workplace.”

With the support of his seniors, along with the company’s broad interest, he was invited to teach other departments within the organization about the role AI and its impact and implementation in different processes within the entity.

“Once people saw the impact of AI on different processes, I found them wanting to learn more about it, which pushed me to take my passion for AI a step further by becoming a certified trainer.  Thus, I got the required certificate and now I’m carrying out courses and educating employees combining both my passion for AI and teaching.”

“In my courses, my mission is to dispel the myths about AI that are often spread through social media and news outlets, especially regarding job security. I strive to educate people on the realities of AI and combat AI illiteracy, and I believe that through my classes, people can learn to harness AI to their advantage.”

Aleissaee explains that he would like to take this passion for education forward and be “one of the top AI voices in the country — perhaps even the world,” especially with a view to educating the next generation, whose present-day inquisitions do not stray far from his own childhood inquisitions.

“I have nieces and nephews who are constantly asking me questions about different types of AI and how it is used in video games,” he says. “Therefore, I would love to help young people develop their interest and understanding of AI as much as possible.”

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