As artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly sophisticated and mainstream, it is also clear that it will have a significant impact on almost every industry and field of business. That includes legal proceedings such as arbitrations.
The emergence of generative AI is an exciting development that has the potential to make lawyers and legal work more efficient and set forth a new era of legal services. It goes without saying that while the legislative and regulatory landscape of AI is yet to be developed, it is worth looking at how AI, particularly generative AI tools, will impact arbitrations. Will these tools be a help or a hindrance?
A helping hand
There are several areas within arbitrations where AI tools could be incredibly helpful. Generative AI tools may be useful across the entire arbitration process and may aid in, amongst others, project management and high-level issue analysis, particularly in an urgent legal matter.
In the preparation stage, generative AI tools have the potential to assist in making research simpler. For lawyers involved in arbitration proceedings, being able to efficiently analyse massive databases of case law, statutes, regulations, and legal literature could save a lot of costs for clients. This also has the potential to further ease the burden at the preparation stage and add to the overall efficiency of running an arbitration.
During arbitration proceedings, AI tools can also be used to better handle the often large document management process. Additionally, these AI tools can also provide transcripts, and summaries of each day’s events during the arbitration process.
Although AI has the potential of being extremely useful in arbitration proceedings, it can also cause potential hindrances. That is especially true for any parties who blindly put their trust in what is still an emerging field of technology.
In utilising generative AI tools, lawyers ought to consider the potential risks and benefits of utilising such tools. Many AI algorithms, for example, have the biases of the users. That can, in turn, lead to unfair or discriminatory outcomes, eroding trust in the arbitration process. Additionally, those built-in biases could compromise the ability of lawyers to conduct fair and impartial proceedings.
Source : IOL
