Duqm Summer Series opens with focus on intelligent machines

BUSINESS REPORTER
MUSCAT, AUGUST 16
Women have caught up with men in their use of AI chatbots. They have not yet caught up in how often they use them, how confident they feel or how much value they believe the technology brings to their work. That distinction will frame “Intelligent Machines”, the opening session of the 2026 Duqm Summer Series at Crowne Plaza Duqm, on August 23 at 7.30pm.
The session brings together four Omani women working across computer science, data and intelligent systems: Dr Fatima al Raisi from the Department of Computer Science at Sultan Qaboos University; Amna al Sinani of Future Data; Beylasan al Ruzaiqi of Onsor; and Dr Aziza al Zadjali of Star Labs.
Research published by Pew Research Centre in June found that 47 per cent of women now use AI chatbots, close to the 50 per cent recorded among men. In 2024, women trailed men by 11 percentage points. Women have closed that gap in two years. The more interesting question is what they are doing with the technology now that they have access to it. Men remain more likely to use chatbots every day, at 27 per cent compared with 20 per cent of women. Among employed adults, 40 per cent of men use them for work. For women, the figure is 35 per cent.
The widest difference concerns productivity. Thirty-five per cent of men believe chatbots make them more productive, compared with 25 per cent of women. Confidence may help explain why. Only 15 per cent of women describe themselves as very or extremely confident using chatbots. Twenty-two per cent of men say the same.
Using AI regularly gives people time to work out where it helps and where it falls short. They learn how to ask better questions and how to challenge an answer that does not look right. The benefit comes less from opening a chatbot than from knowing what to do with it. Without that confidence, equal adoption can conceal an unequal return.
“AI is often presented to employees as something already decided. A new tool arrives with an expectation that people will adapt to it. Those expected to use the system may have had little say in the problem it was built to solve. Increasing the number of women using AI is only part of the work. Women also need the confidence to test it and the authority to question how it is used”, remarked Hanan al Siyabi of the Special Economic Zone at Duqm and organiser of the Duqm Summer Series.
“Intelligent Machines” will bring that discussion to Duqm through the experiences of women already building careers in technology. The speakers will explore how AI is moving into physical machines and what its development could mean for Oman’s public and private sector.