Although the Arab world approaches half a billion people and is one of the fastest-growing regions in internet consumption, Arabic digital content still accounts for less than 5% of the total global content. Hence, Google’s decision to launch the “Story Book” feature via Gemini to enhance the presence of the Arabic language on global platforms through interactive stories supported by images and voice performance. They chose advanced markets such as Dubai, which leads digital transformation initiatives in the region.

An official Google spokesperson emphasized the importance of expanding access to digital educational content in multicultural cities like Dubai, home to more than 200 nationalities. The feature primarily aims to help parents and teachers convey social messages or complex scientific concepts to children in an interactive and simplified language. With availability in more than 45 languages, a larger number of people can benefit, increasing useful visual and textual content both in Dubai and other cities worldwide where many cultures meet and harmonize.

But how can “Story Book” promote purposeful content instead of random entertainment? Google answers: this feature—like other AI-powered technologies—depends on the quality of demand. Therefore, in our product campaigns, we always share useful examples for children, whether those that feed their imagination, such as turning their drawings into stories, or those aimed at simplifying difficult scientific concepts.

If “Story Book” is used in public or private schools, the educational return or academic performance resulting from its use can be measured by customizing these stories by topic or input words to be part of the curriculum, helping to evaluate students comprehensively during the semester. This feature can contribute to developing children’s reading and listening skills if there are evaluation foundations from teachers and a specific academic system during the specified time period.

Regarding plans to customize stories addressing local topics such as tolerance, the UAE environment, or Emirati culture—considering Dubai is one of the fastest cities in the world to adopt smart learning technologies—Google confirms: this feature is very flexible in its usage, allowing story customization in all possible ways, whether focusing on a specific direction, idea, changing character names, or uploading images of characters to be part of the story.

Multiple studies indicate that Arabic digital content constitutes less than 1% of the total available global content. So how can “Story Book” change this reality, especially in advanced markets like Dubai? Google says: through this feature, we aim to contribute to the spread of Arabic interactive content for children with images and voice narration. These stories can be printed for use and distribution or published in PDF format and added to websites and applications to benefit a larger number of children and users worldwide. Although the feature is new in the region.