Picture used for illustrative purposes.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The majority of UAE residents view smart assistants primarily as learning aids, with 72% of respondents indicating that AI assistants should take part in children’s education. This data was gathered through a survey conducted by Researchscape International and commissioned by the global tech company Yango.

According to the same survey, 54% of respondents believe that AI assistants should serve as useful learning companions, especially for acquiring new languages. Additionally, 54% indicate that AI assistants should help organise their day. Another significant area where smart assistants can be useful is smart home management. 57% of respondents expect them to manage smart home devices, while 41% anticipate using the assistants as entertainment sources, playing music based on mood.

“Research shows that users expect smart assistants to possess a variety of skills to assist them in different areas of life. To meet these modern user demands, we have developed our bilingual, human-like AI assistant Yasmina. Yasmina’s features currently include entertainment, daily task management, explaining complex topics, and providing educational support. All you need is to activate the AI assistant with your voice,” comments Rami Abu Arja, Senior Innovation Marketing Manager at Yasmina, Yango Middle East.

Learning companion

Yasmina provides children and adults with easy access to a wealth of information. Moreover, as a bilingual AI assistant, it can help users practise both English or Khaleeji Arabic through friendly, human-like conversations. Yasmina is child-friendly — it recognises children's voices and provides age-appropriate content when interacting with them.

Guide to Arab culture

As an AI assistant that fulfils the expectations of local users, Yasmina can play surahs from the Holy Quran by Al Sheikh Maher Bin Hamad Al Muaiqly, which is free for all users, and tell you the date according to the Hijri calendar. You can say, “Yasmina, play the Azaan for all prayers every day,” and the assistant will automatically play the Azaan for your current location. Yasmina also knows the prayer times for any city in the world.

Smart home manager

Yasmina can dim the lights, set a comfortable temperature in the room, and put on a specially curated meditation playlist. Simply say, “Yasmina, dim the lights,” “Yasmina, play the sound of the ocean,” and “Yasmina, set the temperature to 23 degrees,” to set the mood for meditation.

Fitness buddy

Yasmina makes workouts more fun with curated sports playlists. Say, “Yasmina, play music for sports”. To access the entire music library, including playlists for different moods and activities, users need an active Yango Play subscription.

In the future, 42% of respondents hope that AI assistants will act as personal trainers to motivate them to exercise, while 33% expect them to provide calorie counts for meals.

Yango’s first smart speakers, Yasmina Mini and Yasmina Midi enhanced by Yasmina, a bilingual, human-like AI assistant tailored specifically to the Middle East, are now available through various retail and online outlets across the UAE.