In a groundbreaking move, the United Arab Emirates has announced plans to integrate artificial intelligence directly into the creation and revision of its laws. This initiative marks one of the most ambitious attempts globally to harness the power of AI in public governance, going well beyond efficiency to allow the technology to help draft and update legislation actively. While governments worldwide are exploring AI for tasks like summarising policies or improving bureaucratic processes, the UAE's vision involves using AI to propose legal changes by analysing a vast pool of government and legal data. This concept, labelled “AI-driven regulation” by state media, is being hailed as a radical shift.

“More Precise Laws” – A New Era of Governance 

According to Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, the new AI-powered legal framework is expected to revolutionise how laws are created. “This new legislative system, powered by artificial intelligence, will change how we create laws, making the process faster and more precise,” he was quoted as saying. To spearhead this transformation, the government recently approved the formation of a new cabinet entity called the Regulatory Intelligence Office. This office will oversee the implementation and evolution of the AI-driven legislative agenda.

From Assistant to Co-Legislator?

Experts say the UAE may be trying to do something truly unprecedented. Rony Medaglia, a professor at Copenhagen Business School, remarked that the country seems to be aiming to transform AI from a support tool into a “co-legislator” — a concept he called “very bold”. Unlike most countries where AI mostly serves an administrative role, the UAE appears determined to use it as an integral part of the lawmaking process, tracking the societal and economic impacts of legislation and proactively recommending amendments.

AI to Monitor and Recommend Law Changes

The plan includes building a comprehensive national database of both federal and local legislation, supplemented by public sector data such as court rulings and government service records. This data-rich environment will allow AI systems to continuously analyse legal frameworks and suggest improvements in real time. According to Sheikh Mohammad, the goal is for AI to “regularly suggest updates to our legislation”. The cabinet estimates that this could speed up the legislative process by up to 70 per cent.

Warn of Potential Pitfalls

Despite the promise, some researchers have raised red flags. Concerns range from the lack of transparency in AI decision-making to the possibility of biased outcomes due to flawed training data. There are also questions about whether AI systems can truly interpret the nuances of legal language as humans do.