With Dubai soaked from another late-season storm, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar Al Olama mounted the stage at the annual Capital Market Summit on Thursday wearing rubber sandals.

Before delivering a peek into the country’s AI future, the minister had to navigate his way to the correct location at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah Conference and Events Centre as the main stage was damaged by rain.

Addressing how AI will affect the world of finance, Al Olama offered three predictions.

No. 1: Stronger firewalls will be erected to limit the amount of information that can be freely scraped from the internet. No. 2: Investors will see the rise of “artisanal” large language models to guide them through such thickets as hedging, ETFs and shariah-compliant lending. No. 3. Overuse of AI will lead to a “big catastrophic financial event.”

Roaming the conference halls was one business executive from Hong Kong who was seeking connections for big tech and EV clients back in China. With an eye toward potential dual listings, she noted that Chinese companies have yet to go public on the Dubai Financial Market, but they are seeing opportunities reminiscent of the go-go days of China’s biggest city. “Dubai in 2024 is Shanghai in 2004,” she said.

Heavy rain, wind and lightning hit the UAE overnight, with flooding on roads in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and trees uprooted in some areas. Dubai International Airport canceled 13 flights and intercity bus services have been suspended. Schools held classes online while students stayed home and many businesses allowed employees to work remotely.

The latest downpours come as the emirates, particularly Dubai, are still recovering from extreme weather that brought record rain and flooding two weeks ago.