Robots and AI Threaten to Mediate Disputes Better Than Lawyers
Algorithms and big data are entering the often shrouded world of alternative dispute resolution
By Kate Beioley
Robots and artificial intelligence seem worlds away from the sensitive and nuanced area of international mediation. Here, battles are largely settled behind closed doors and skilled mediators pick their way through sticky negotiations.
Algorithms and big data, however, are fast entering the often mystery-shrouded world of alternative dispute resolution. This is much the result of the rapidly increasing demand for the kind of data analytics being harnessed in US litigation to predict trial outcomes.
The incursion of robots into mediation hit a new milestone in February, when Canadian electronic negotiation specialists iCan Systems reputedly became the first company to resolve a dispute in a public court in England and Wales using a “robot mediator”.
Smartsettle ONE, an AI tool, replaced a human mediator and, in less than an hour using a kind of blind-bid mechanism, settled a three-month dispute over a £2,000 unpaid bill for a personal counselling course, according to the Law Gazette.
