Dive Brief:
- The American Arbitration Association - International Centre for Dispute Resolution has released a new artificial intelligence tool targeted toward the construction industry, the organization announced on Nov. 3.
- The tool will be limited to two-party, documents-only construction cases, according to the announcement. The AAA also noted that human oversight is a key part of the process, from the two parties involved who will review and validate the tool’s responses to their submissions to a human arbitrator who will check the final product and issue an award.
- “The construction industry demands outcomes that are fast, fair, and clear — making it an excellent launchpad for this solution,” said Frank Rossi, chief operations and revenue officer at AAA-ICDR, in the release. “We’re reshaping expectations for what’s possible in dispute avoidance and resolution.”
Dive Insight:
Once established and tested in construction, the AAA-ICDR will expand the tool to additional industries, case types and higher value claims. The group also plans to add additional features, such as multi-party proceedings, cross-border elements and cultural nuances.
Michael Vardaro, managing partner at law firm Zetlin & De Chiara and an arbitrator with the AAA-ICDR, told Construction Dive that the tool represents a significant milestone for arbitration.
“They've gotten guidelines, but this is the first time that one of the organizations has come out and says, ‘We're going to embrace this technology, and here's how we're going to do it,’” Vardaro said.
The tool could be especially helpful in situations where two parties need a decision quickly to avoid stymying an in-progress project, a net benefit to both groups, Vardaro said. That decision would also be reviewable later on.
The AAA-ICDR expects 20% to 25% time savings across the entire process, Rossi told Construction Dive via email.
Across the construction industry, builders and contech firms have been engaged in an AI arms race, where builders must either fight to adopt new tech faster than their competitors or risk being left behind. But AI in the legal field has had its share of high-profile snafus and a growing tide of so-called “AI slop” in court filings, The New York Times reported.
Vardaro advised that it would be a good idea to keep an eye on the arbitration tool as well. Part of that mandated human oversight is to make sure that AI doesn’t miss something so egregious that it affects the arbitration decision.
“Broadly speaking, we're at the infancy of this. And so, you know, who knows where we'll be even just a year from now,” Vardaro said.
