DUBAI: The UAE’s Federal Public Prosecution has launched a new artificial intelligence-powered translation service aimed at improving accessibility and inclusivity for non-Arabic speakers.
Speaking at GITEX Dubai this week, Khalifa Ibrahim Al Hammadi public prosecution member in the public procsecution of uae told Arab News the country hoped to become a world leader in integrating AI into the legal system. He cited the Bayan translation service, launched at the event in conjunction with Emirati AI company, Presight.
“It is designed to support investigations and trials by offering seamless two-way voice and text translation, with dialect recognition — including the Emirati dialect,” said Hammadi.
The UAE’s courts are often difficult to navigate for the country’s enormous expat population, which includes over 200 nationalities. Arabic is the official language of the UAE’s legal system, while English is common in business and commercial contracts, and translations are needed. In disputes, UAE courts give precedence to the Arabic version of any contract.
The public prosecution office hopes the new AI service will make the process much easier.
“The platform features speech-to-text and text-to-speech capabilities, extracts text from documents and images, and includes a multilingual legal dictionary,” Hammadi said.
“It also comes with an intelligent governance dashboard for auditing and quality assurance. Ultimately, it enhances translation accuracy, speeds up legal procedures, and strengthens the overall efficiency of our judicial system."
AI is being used in legal systems globally to speed up case processing, help in legal research, and improve access to justice. China has seen the rise of virtual smart courts while tools for contract analysis have rapidly gained popularity in the US.
The UAE is hoping to become a leader in the field, launching its own internal legal chatbot and undergoing a mass legal filing digitization campaign.
Some challenges remain with using AI in legal proceedings, particularly due to risks of bias, lack of transparency, data privacy concerns and unclear accountability when errors occur. However, Hammadi says he is confident the UAE’s systems will adapt and evolve.
