A Z-number is very powerful in describing imperfect information, in which fuzzy numbers are paired such that the partially reliable information is properly processed. During a decision-making process, human beings always use natural language to describe their preferences, and the decision information is usually imprecise and partially reliable. The nature of the Z-number, which is composed of the restriction and reliability components, has made it a powerful tool for depicting certain decision information. Its strengths and advantages have attracted many researchers worldwide to further study and extend its theory and applications. The current research trend on Z-numbers has shown an increasing interest among researchers in the fuzzy set theory, especially its application to decision making. This paper reviews the application of Z-numbers in decision making, in which previous decision-making models based on Z-numbers are analyzed to identify their strengths and contributions. The decision making based on Z-numbers improves the reliability of the decision information and makes it more meaningful. Another scope that is closely related to decision making, namely, the ranking of Z-numbers, is also reviewed. Then, the evaluative analysis of the Z-numbers is conducted to evaluate the performance of Z-numbers in decision making. Future directions and recommendations on the applications of Z-numbers in decision making are provided at the end of this review.

Intuitionistic fuzzy numbers incorporate the membership and non-membership degrees. In contrast, Z-numbers consist of restriction components, with the existence of a reliability component describing the degree of certainty for the restriction. The combination of intuitionistic fuzzy numbers and Z-numbers produce a new type of fuzzy numbers, namely intuitionistic Z-numbers (IZN). The strength of IZN is their capability of better handling the uncertainty compared to Zadeh's Z-numbers since both components of Z-numbers are characterized by the membership and non-membership functions, exhibiting the degree of the hesitancy of decision-makers. This paper presents the application of such numbers in fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making problems. A decision-making model is proposed using the trapezoidal intuitionistic fuzzy power ordered weighted average as the aggregation function and the ranking function to rank the alternatives. The proposed model is then implemented in a supplier selection problem. The obtained ranking is compared to the existing models based on Z-numbers. The results show that the ranking order is slightly different from the existing models. Sensitivity analysis is performed to validate the obtained ranking. The sensitivity analysis result shows that the best supplier is obtained using the proposed model with 80% to 100% consistency despite the drastic change of criteria weights. Intuitionistic Z-numbers play a very important role in describing the uncertainty in the decision makers’ opinions in solving decision-making problems.

This paper presents a hybrid fuzzy multi criteria decision making model for z-numbers using intuitive vectorial centroid. There are two novelty aspects discussed: 1) development of intuitive vectorial centroid defuzzification and 2) development of hybrid fuzzy multi criteria decision making model based on consistent fuzzy preference relations and fuzzy technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution for z-numbers. The latter are taken into consideration due to their capability of capturing human knowledge and extensive use in decision making problems under linguistic uncertainty. Fuzziness is not sufficient enough when dealing with real information and a degree of reliability of the information is very critical. The proposed combination of z-numbers with multi criteria decision making techniques facilitates the use of fuzzy linguistic aspects of human intuition in decision making. The proposed model is applied to a staff recruitment case study.

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have garnered significant utilisation within automated image classification systems. CNNs possess the ability to leverage the spatial and temporal correlations inherent in a dataset. This study delves into the use of cutting-edge deep learning for precise image data classification, focusing on overcoming the difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to improve the accuracy and robustness of COVID-19 image classification, the study introduces a novel methodology that combines the strength of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs) and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). This proposed study helps to mitigate the lack of labelled coronavirus (COVID-19) images, which has been a standard limitation in related research, and improves the model’s ability to distinguish between COVID-19-related patterns and healthy lung images. The study uses a thorough case study and uses a sizable dataset of chest X-ray images covering COVID-19 cases, other respiratory conditions, and healthy lung conditions. The integrated model outperforms conventional DCNN-based techniques in terms of classification accuracy after being trained on this dataset. To address the issues of an unbalanced dataset, GAN will produce synthetic pictures and extract deep features from every image. A thorough understanding of the model’s performance in real-world scenarios is also provided by the study’s meticulous evaluation of the model’s performance using a variety of metrics, including accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score.

This systematic literature review examines United Arab Emirates (UAE) public sector artificial intelligence (AI) use, impact, and challenges. Using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) protocol, 20 relevant Scopus articles were selected for the study. Data from selected articles were used to analyse AI's use, benefits, and drawbacks in the UAE's public sector. Quality assessment was done throughout the review process. The results showed that AI is being used more in the UAE's public sector to improve efficiency, cost savings, decision-making, and service delivery. The review also found data, privacy, security, technical, infrastructure, AI, and user challenges. Publication bias and the lack of AI studies in the UAE's public sector limit the study. The findings have major implications for policy and practice, emphasising the need for AI strategies and UAE-specific solutions.