Exploring the fear of AI in the Hospitality and Real Estate industry: Legal implications in the United Arab Emirates

1. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in the Hospitality and Real Estate Industry

Artificial intelligence (AI) research has been ongoing for many decades, with significant advancements occurring only in recent years. AI has become a hot topic in several fields, including hospitality and real estate. In the hospitality industry, AI is being integrated at every level, from customer service to administrative tasks. For routine tasks such as data entry, data analysis, and property management, AI is useful for managing and optimizing functions smoothly. AI enhances app functionality, offering a wide range of benefits, including virtual concierge services and chatbots used to simplify the process for potential customers. The use of AI in real estate can help identify optimal market trends, providing insights for managing real estate portfolios. Based on the information and data, AI can help estimate prices, rentals, and sales, support property management, investment or purchase decisions, manage lease or party documentation, and assist in managing real estate developments and constructions.

The global AI in real estate market is projected to reach $7,900 million by 2027. During the forecast period, the real estate market is predicted to grow from USD 807 million, with a CAGR of 31.8 percent. AI is linked with digital transformation and technological advancement, raising concerns about legal, ethical, and philosophical implications. On one hand, the use of AI technologies can increase job efficiency, provide better customer support and experience, and offer organizational shortcuts to enhance performance and profitability. Additionally, in every industry, the exponential expansion of AI raises many legal, commercial, and ethical challenges. The use of technology has increased the fear of unemployment in the hospitality industry, as there are not enough extensive technological facilities and psychometric evaluations to alleviate these fears.

2. Understanding the Fear of AI in the UAE Context

When evaluating acceptance and refusal of AI, it becomes even clearer that fears and concerns are deeply connected to the specificities of the use case and the region or industry, considering the often complex interrelations between complementary and competitive factors. A concern that appears particularly weighted in the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the ability of the country to regulate the concentration of power. The Emirates already have a deep-rooted societal fear around technology's potential to cause unemployment and invade privacy. Because employment and maintaining the ability to support their families are aspects that are particularly important in the UAE, there is a major concern about the advancement of AI. The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that Arab countries already have among the highest unemployment rates in the world.

The use case distinctly reveals the different viewpoints on AI, with both passionate supporters and vocal adversaries. This may be a result of the region’s equal conservatism in embracing a general and cultural acceptance of innovative technologies, as exemplified by the rapid embrace of mobile technologies, but the reluctance to embrace more radical innovations. Historical fear incidents such as the cost of labor-saving devices, the stock market crash in the 1980s which was associated with the onset of ATMs and resulted in the loss of a million jobs, or the historical challenge of dealing with large-scale immigration patterns may have also contributed to the employment mentality. Such fears are a genuine basis for societal concern and thus hold potential, which is why policy and strategy building for meaningful, ethical, and socially beneficial engagement with AI need to be anchored in these concerns. A comparative context in the developed spheres of Europe adds depth to formulating adequate strategies and creating a testing ground for the research for the future. A means for substantial engagement is already a fundamental step in scoping out the regulatory framework possibilities in a wider mid- to long-term context. In the following chapter, this overview of the prevailing societal attitudes towards AI will be complemented thoroughly by the investigations of the ground-level implications for employees, customers, and entrepreneurs.

3. Legal Frameworks and Regulations in the UAE Hospitality and Real Estate Sectors

Within the hospitality and real estate sectors in the UAE, while technologies have advanced significantly, data protection and intellectual property aspects must be taken care of. The UAE represents one of the very few countries that have developed a thorough strategy related to artificial intelligence. However, laws must always be adapted to the rapid technological advance, especially in the area of AI.

The UAE has established an AI policy and a national program to develop the UAE. When it comes to specifically classifying AI, the government of the UAE has developed two AI governance components, or laws, relating to AI: the AI framework policy and the AI technical governance. The first one relates to the overall principles that the UAE suggests should be adopted in the areas affected by AI, which can be adopted elsewhere by both private and government organizations, while the technical governance relates to specific AI classifications, including human-level AI and the road and security considerations that must be taken into account when incorporating such an AI into machinery and business, owing to the high level of responsibility that exists in such a situation. When it comes to the overall direction, the new role implemented by the UAE Government ‘Chief Executive Officer for Artificial Intelligence’ in the ministries and federal entities of AI in the UAE, is a positive stance taken by the Government to reduce the fear of AI.

The framework surrounding a technology, in this case legislation governing AI, is crucial to determining the expanded application of this technology, and developing a legislative and regulatory framework for this nascent technology is one of the key reasons why the citizens of a country remain hesitant about AI. In the UAE, the relevant law that aims at protecting and regulating blockchain is the DIFC Data Protection Law No. 5 of 2020 and the UAE federal data protection law, Federal Decree Law No. 45 of 2020. Both laws together cover several aspects of data protection and are closely linked with both European and UK data protection laws. Both laws have several chapters on the information commissioner, which regulates all aspects of personal data protection. Similarly, the DIFC Data Protection Law lays out the appointment of the Data Protection Office (DPO) in compliance with this law, while the UAE federal data protection law requires the appointment of an AI specialist to regulate AI, which is responsible for maintaining the registry of compliant AI owners. Overall, these developments show that legislators in the UAE are striving to create several lists in which they can eventually begin to regulate this technology, and this can be seen as a positive in the catering and real estate markets, which have already embraced this AI technology. However, in order to prevent suspicion of implementing AI technology, it is still necessary to provide a definitive legal basis.

4. Ethical and Social Implications of AI in Hospitality and Real Estate

Automation, particularly in essential services like housing, travel, and entertainment, often raises concerns as biased AI decisions can significantly impact individuals and communities surrounding the companies using such systems. Complex algorithms, while effective, can be difficult to understand, which sometimes decreases public trust. When issues arise with a single company’s AI, they can set precedents that affect the entire market, especially in data-intensive sectors like hospitality. The UAE’s hospitality industry, which depends heavily on data, provides a key area to explore AI’s potential to exacerbate issues by reducing human discretion in critical decision-making.

Another sector testing AI to limit human involvement is real estate, typically seen as more resistant to technology than hospitality. Globally, however, AI’s role in real estate is growing, with the UAE particularly interested in the implications of this trend on its housing market. AI applications in this sector, from automated property valuations to predictive analytics for market trends, need alignment with the region’s ethical standards, especially when handling culturally sensitive or emotionally significant transactions.

Labor in hazardous or sensitive environments, meanwhile, highlights a practical area where AI and robotics are already making a difference. For instance, in high-risk jobs like industrial cleaning in infectious zones or toxic sites, companies in the UAE and other countries are beginning to deploy robots. These robots perform tasks that would otherwise expose humans to potential harm, such as disinfecting rooms, monitoring pollution levels, and even inspecting dangerous building structures. In healthcare facilities, AI-powered robots help minimize contact in infectious areas by delivering supplies, assisting patients, or carrying out sanitation tasks.

Similarly, in construction—a sector integral to the UAE’s rapid development—AI-driven machinery is used for dangerous or repetitive tasks. Robotics can assist in heavy lifting, welding, and even bricklaying, ensuring human workers are less exposed to injury risks. Warehousing and logistics sectors also utilize AI-powered systems to sort, move, and manage inventory with high precision and efficiency. In ports, for example, autonomous vehicles and cranes streamline loading and unloading, reducing human labor in accident-prone environments.

In sectors such as transportation, telecommunications, and real estate, media often highlights concerns about AI’s potential to disrupt jobs. While AI introduces risks to traditional labor roles, it can also create new positions that require specialized skills in AI maintenance, ethics management, and AI compliance. Nevertheless, due to AI's impact on people and communities, regions like the UAE emphasize ethical and societal considerations to a greater degree than may be reflected globally.

As AI continues to reshape the business landscape of the UAE’s hospitality and real estate sectors, a forward-thinking approach that balances automation with ethical standards will help these industries stay globally competitive. Thoughtful integration of AI could support the UAE’s vision of growth, ensuring that advances in automation align with local cultural values and long-term societal goals.

5. Mitigating Fear and Harnessing the Benefits of AI in the UAE

From the point of 'Broadening our Minds', AI is not the only technology that destroys jobs; it creates them as well. There is still imitation within the UAE workforce, and it needs to be addressed now. Technology always creates jobs and forces people to be flexible and innovative, imagine this world without internet, we will be still having these limited paper work jobs in a bureaucratic atmosphere, in the hospitality industry a revenue manager can implement and upload hotels rate from his home in Canada for some hotels in the Gulf region only be a single click in a second. However, ethical guidelines needed to be adopted in these dynamic industries. Therefore, through legislation and public educational campaigns, implement ethical adoption to ensure that AI serves only as a human enabler, not as something that hinders our way to progress.