Case Studies

What we find when
we look closely

Illustrative, sector-representative case studies showing how cross-lingual failures appear in practice. Each case is a composite demonstration built from documented failure patterns — not a named client engagement.

Illustrative demonstrations: these cases are composites based on representative evaluation patterns, not real client engagements. Organisations, systems, and outcomes are illustrative.
Legal services Bias & Reliability Audit
Contract review AI — Arabic clause omission
Mid-size solicitors firm. AI used for contract summarisation across English and Arabic commercial agreements.
Not ready for deployment
Key findings · illustrative demonstration
Critical Limitation of liability clauses present in English source contracts were omitted from Arabic summaries in 4 of 7 test scenarios
Critical "Without prejudice" rendered as بدون تحيز (without bias) — losing legal protection meaning entirely
High Arabic responses were on average 43% shorter than English responses to identical queries, systematically omitting detail
High SRA professional conduct references present in English responses absent from Arabic equivalents
Illustrative recommended outcome: System suspended for Arabic-language client use pending remediation. Vendor notified with documented evidence. Firm updated its AI policy to require bilingual parity testing before deployment.
Audit — 12 days
Financial services Readiness Assessment
Customer-facing chatbot — banking sector
Regional bank deploying Arabic–English chatbot for account queries, loan information, and complaint handling.
Not ready for deployment
Key findings · illustrative demonstration
Critical Complaint handling responses in Arabic omitted FCA-required escalation pathways present in English responses
Critical Loan eligibility query in Arabic returned Gulf-jurisdiction debt-to-income ratios, not UK regulatory thresholds
High Cultural deference pattern: Arabic responses softened mandatory warnings ("you may wish to consider" vs. "you must")
Medium Dialect inconsistency: system switched between Gulf and Levantine Arabic mid-conversation for the same user
Illustrative recommended outcome: Deployment paused. Report used to brief compliance team and submit structured remediation requirements to the AI vendor. Re-evaluation scheduled for 90 days post-remediation.
Assessment — 6 days
Healthcare Cultural Integrity Review
Patient communication tool — NHS trust
NHS trust piloting AI-assisted patient communication in Arabic, serving a significant Arabic-speaking local population.
Conditional pilot
Key findings · illustrative demonstration
High Dosage instruction responses in Arabic used ambiguous phrasing that could be interpreted as "when needed" rather than "twice daily as prescribed"
High Cultural modesty considerations absent: clinical questions about intimate health were phrased identically regardless of patient gender and cultural context
Medium Religious and cultural observance factors (e.g. Ramadan fasting) not surfaced in medication timing guidance despite relevance
Medium Emergency signposting (999, 111) present in English responses but missing from 2 of 5 Arabic critical-symptom test scenarios
Illustrative recommended outcome: Approved for use in non-clinical administrative contexts only. Clinical communication use requires human review layer pending remediation. Trust added bilingual parity checks to its AI governance framework.
Review — 8 days
Public sector Readiness Assessment
Benefits enquiry assistant — local authority
London borough deploying AI for benefits and housing enquiries, with Arabic as a priority community language.
Conditional pilot
Key findings · illustrative demonstration
High Housing benefit eligibility criteria responses in Arabic omitted the "habitual residence" test — a key eligibility gate — present in all English responses
High Appeals process guidance absent from Arabic responses to housing dispute queries
Medium Formal tone appropriate; however system used Egyptian dialect features inconsistently for a predominantly Iraqi and Syrian user base
Medium English responses referenced Citizens Advice; Arabic responses did not — a meaningful information gap for newly arrived residents
Illustrative recommended outcome: Approved with conditions: all Arabic responses on eligibility topics require a human review step before sending. Authority used report to brief their equality and inclusion team and updated their equality impact assessment for the tool.
Assessment — 7 days
HR & recruitment Bias & Reliability Audit
Candidate screening AI — name and origin bias
Recruitment firm using AI to shortlist candidates across bilingual CVs. Arabic and English CVs submitted for equivalent candidates.
Not ready for deployment
Key findings · illustrative demonstration
Critical Structurally identical CVs with Arabic names scored 22–31 points lower than equivalents with English names in automated screening
Critical Arabic-language CVs received lower "communication skills" ratings than English-language equivalents with identical content
High System flagged qualifications from MENA universities as "unverified" at 3× the rate of equivalent UK qualifications
High Bias pattern was consistent across 3 separate AI screening tools tested — not vendor-specific
Illustrative recommended outcome: All three AI tools suspended. Report provided to the firm's legal team to assess Equality Act exposure. Firm paused AI screening pending introduction of name-blind processing and re-evaluation. Report also shared (anonymised) with CIPD contacts.
Audit — 14 days
Financial services High-Trust Pilot Support
Insurance claims AI — pre-deployment pilot
Insurer piloting Arabic–English AI for first-notice-of-loss handling. Engaged Dalīl Group before public launch to identify and remediate issues in advance.
Ready for controlled pilot
Key findings — initial evaluation · illustrative demonstration
High Initial evaluation found 3 high-risk gaps; all addressed in remediation before pilot launch
Medium Arabic claim acknowledgement letters used overly formal Classical Arabic; recommended shift to Modern Standard Arabic with accessible register
Medium Timeframe expressions translated ambiguously ("within a few days" vs. "within 5 working days" as per policy)
Illustrative recommended outcome: Pilot launched successfully following remediation. Ongoing quarterly evaluation retainer agreed. This scenario illustrates a full bilingual pass on initial submission — credited to vendor cooperation and internal QA investment.
Pilot support — ongoing
EN ≠ AR
Material gaps
The same system can produce materially different answers in Arabic and English — in completeness, accuracy, and cultural alignment
Unseen
Limited visibility
Organisations rarely have structured visibility of their system's Arabic performance until it is independently tested
Rarely
Vendor disclosure
AI vendors rarely publish Arabic-specific performance limitations for their systems
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