The UAE Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications Office has announced that Google Gemini ranked first in the “AI in the Ring” Index, the world’s first benchmark designed to evaluate how effectively AI language models reflect Emirati culture, dialects, traditions and national values.
Gemini secured the top position after a review of more than 400 questions and 5,200 generated responses from 11 major language models.
A committee of Emirati experts assessed each model’s outputs to identify which systems demonstrated the strongest cultural understanding.
UAE AI cultural understanding test
The ranking of AI models included:
- 1 — Google (Gemini 2.5 Pro)
- 2 — ChatGPT-4o
- 3 — ChatGPT o1
- 4 — Cohere Command
- 5 — Grok 4
- 6 — DeepSeek
- 7 — Qwen Max
- 8 — Kimi K2
- 9 — Mistral Medium 3.1
- 10 — LLaMA 4 Maverick
- 11 — LLaMA 3.3 70B
Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, emphasised that national identity remains a priority for the UAE as digital transformation accelerates.
He noted that emerging technologies must reflect and reinforce the country’s authentic values, ensuring that AI systems enhance and save the UAE’s cultural heritage forward with clarity and respect.
Al Olama stated that the index reinforces a core national principle: technology should grow from a nation’s roots.
It should protect identity, deepen cultural awareness, and shape a future where innovation advances confidently in harmony with the spirit, character, and enduring traditions of the United Arab Emirates.
How the models were tested
The assessment measured each model’s ability to reflect the culture of the UAE while preserving language, heritage and values. The evaluation compared international AI systems across seven dimensions:
- Historical context
- Creative and poetic writing
- Emirati Arabic, language and dialects
- Cultural symbols and meanings
- Social context and behavioural norms
- Social and religious topics
- Emirati values and ethics
The models were tested using a Human–AI red-teaming framework designed to deliberately challenge them and expose cultural gaps, risks or misinterpretations.
A custom-built platform monitored bias and unusual outputs, and all model identities were concealed from the review committee to ensure neutrality.
AI adoption accelerates
The UAE highlighted the increasing urgency of culturally aligned AI systems, noting that less than 5 per cent of Arabic content worldwide exists in digital form, while 48 per cent of Generation Z now relies on AI as their primary source of information.
This shift underscores the importance of training AI models on accurate, UAE-relevant cultural data as the country moves to safeguard national heritage for future generations.
