From exploration to transformation: How GEMS Education is empowering students in Dubai to solve real-world problems using Artificial Intelligence
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Nestled close to the main entrance of GEMS Dubai American Academy is the school’s Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics. Come nine o’clock, the space is filled with Grade 7 and Grade 8 students armed with robotics kits and on a mission to put together a robotic arm with a mechanical claw. The lab is lively, with students asking questions, taking on challenges, and even whooping with delight when they figure out a mechanism and find a solution to a problem – a fact that delights their teacher, Ulysses Cortes Sanchez.
Innovation, after all, often emerges from moments of chaos – it can be loud, disruptive, and energetic. In this case, a lively lab signals that the students are deeply engaged in the learning process. Sitting with the students at one of the tables, Cortes, the Middle School Coding and Robotics Teacher and Innovation Activator, is a calm and steady presence, providing guidance and direction. When they get stuck on a problem, the students are encouraged to use a variety of age-appropriate AI tools – something that would have been unheard of a few years ago.
A profound impact on the education industry
Cortes still remembers the day when he realized the titanic impact that AI would have on the education industry. Back in 2022, he asked ChatGPT to write a poem for Día de los Muertos, a Mexican celebration of life, death and family. “We have a very specific poem that we write to celebrate that day and I was amazed when I immediately got a near perfect first draft using AI. That was the moment I realized that this technology is going to change everything that I know, including education.”
Like many teachers, Cortes had a long list of responsibilities, from grading essays and assessing students to putting together daily lesson plans, preparing presentations, and doing research. His first thought was to familiarize himself with the latest AI tools to figure out how he could spend less time on admin-heavy tasks and instead dedicate more of his time to his students. Today, solutions like Microsoft 365 Copilot save him “almost too much time.”
“What I like about Copilot is that it has everything I need in one single tool – I can ask it questions, have it do research, it will give me links that take me straight to the sources; if I need to create a lesson plan, I use it for brainstorming what activities I can do with my students in class, and I can also generate images for my presentations,” Cortes explains.
The biggest win for Cortes though has been the level of personalization that he can now offer his students. “With AI, I can come up with very personalized plans for specific students who need more of the teacher or for the students that are very gifted and require an extra challenge in the classroom – the customization that my classes now have is on a whole other level.”
“With AI, I can come up with very personalized plans for specific students who need more of the teacher or for the students that are very gifted and require an extra challenge in the classroom – the customization that my classes now have is on a whole other level”
In the classroom, Cortes’ plans for AI extend beyond teaching his students how to use the latest AI-powered tools – it’s to make them understand how they can effectively and responsibly integrate AI into their lives moving forward. This is key concern for many parents and one that Cortes and the other educators at GEMS Dubai American Academy recognize. To the delight of his students, he responds with Uncle Ben’s iconic line from the Spiderman franchise.
“With great power comes great responsibility; I always tell my students that AI can do great things for good, but we also need to be very careful with how we use it.”
AI as a tool to help solve global challenges
The potential of AI to help accelerate the development of solutions that tackle real-world challenges is something that Noah Choucair, a 14-year-old Grade 8 student, is very familiar with. Driven by his passion to improve the working conditions of workers on construction sites in the UAE, and armed with an idea of how to help, Choucair turned to AI to get his idea off the ground. The idea? A smart helmet that monitors worker vitals such as body temperature and heart rate to calibrate the work breaks they need to take to reduce fatigue and the risk of heat stroke.
“I decided to try and develop a prototype with heart rate sensors and body heat temperature sensors that would relay all this information to an AI model that I am developing using Microsoft 365 Copilot API and OpenAI’s GPT API,” he explains, holding up the prototype. “As someone who has never developed an AI model before, using AI has been a real game changer; I wouldn’t have been able to complete even a fraction of it if I didn’t have access to Copilot and GPT.”
After his initial brainstorming session, Choucair said that he used GPT to help him with the wiring on the prototype. “I’m not great at circuitry, in fact I’m pretty much new to it, so being able to ask AI to give me access to online forums and step-by-step instructions and even diagrams, was the biggest help. AI allowed me to complete the circuitry and code parts of my project, even though I didn’t have a background in extensive Python coding; it helped me develop the code, debug the code and then wire the circuits.”
“Being able to ask AI to give me access to online forums and step-by-step instructions and even diagrams, was the biggest help. AI allowed me to complete the circuitry and code parts of my project, even though I didn’t have a background in extensive Python coding; it helped me develop the code, debug the code and then wire the circuits”
Choucair then took his prototype to the GEMS Global Innovation Challenge (GIC), a program organized by GEMS Education to encourage student-driven innovation. The challenge provides a platform for GEMS students worldwide to submit their ideas utilizing technology and exponential technologies to address global issues. Choucair’s smart helmet – submitted under the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 8 category, which emphasizes access to quality employment, fair wages, and safe working conditions for all – caught the attention of a construction company in Saudi Arabia.
A representative from the company urged Choucair to get in contact once he completes his final prototype and is ready to move to the implementation and testing phase. “It makes me really happy if I can help make even the slightest improvement in worksites and conditions for construction workers across the UAE and the GCC. My ultimate dream is for my project to become mainstream and be used all over the world.”
When working with AI, Choucair says that he has learned to ask for the “why and the how”.
“Instead of just asking for a solution, I make it a point to ask why a problem came up and how I can solve it, so I’m able to actually understand what I’m doing,” he explains. “Also, being able to ask Copilot to teach me more about a certain topic has been incredible. I’m able to learn whatever I want, whenever I want. Best of all, it challenges me when it sees me getting better by giving me tougher questions; of course, I’ll end up making mistakes, but then it gives me instant and extensive feedback so that I learn from them.”
Reimagining the future of education with AI
Empowering teachers like Cortes and students like Choucair to effectively leverage AI in their day-to-day lives is a key strategy for GEMS Education, which is today one of the largest K12 private education providers in the world, with over 200,000 students and 15,000 teachers.
Baz Nijjar, Vice President of Education Technology and Digital Innovation at GEMS Education, says that innovation is in the DNA of the institution, and now with AI in the mix, there is a constant loop of inspiring teachers, curious students, and talented innovation leaders working together to provide feedback and suggestions on how the technology can be integrated in the curriculum to enhance learning.
The result of these conversations is GEMS School of Research and Innovation, which Nijjar describes as the finest school in the world. The flagship school, opening in August 2025, will be a living lab for education innovation with a state-of-the-art campus home to AI/XR immersive learning spaces and student-led tech incubation. It will host research partnerships, educator training hubs, and a full-stack digital ecosystem built in collaboration with Microsoft.
“With GEMS School of Research and Innovation, we’ve had an opportunity to reimagine what education looks like when we bring in the latest and greatest technologies,” says Nijjar. “We are partnering with leading universities and industry providers so that our students can solve real-world problems while still at school and positively impact the world around us.”
Microsoft, he adds, has been an instrumental partner in this journey. “Microsoft has been supporting us with training all our teachers, all our students, and our principals and senior leaders in utilizing AI tools effectively. With their support, we are always at the forefront of understanding where AI can have the most profound impact in education.”
“Microsoft has been supporting us with training all our teachers, all our students, and our principals and senior leaders in utilizing AI tools effectively. With their support, we are always at the forefront of understanding where AI can have the most profound impact in education”
Nijjar revealed that teachers at the group’s schools are collaborating with Microsoft experts to create AI Agents that support them in their curriculum development and delivery. These agents are also used to personalize the educational journey for each and every learner. “We can understand where a student’s strengths are, and where the support is required. And, thanks to AI, we can adapt the content to the student’s learning journey.”
Ultimately, GEMS Education’s vision is to provide each and every student with the opportunity to challenge the status quo with an entrepreneurial spirit and mindset that they develop by working on projects that can solve real-world problems. An excellent platform for this has been the GEMS Global Innovation Challenge, launched in partnership with Plug and Play. The brainchild of Sunny Varkey, Chairman and Founder of GEMS Education, the Challenge aims to provide students with the resources, mentorship, and opportunities to bring their ideas to life.
One of the biggest transformations that Nijjar says he has witnessed during the Challenge is students going from curious learners to creators and inspiring other students to follow suit. “Imagine an eight-year-old using AI to solve a real-world sustainability problem and getting investment from a top incubation program such as Plug and Play Tech Center. Because we get so many great ideas like these, we have decided to set up a $1 million startup fund to support student ideas from thought process, to creation, and potentially into the market space. Our aim is to develop ethically minded, sustainability driven, and innovative leaders that utilize AI to drive positive change in the world around us.”