AI arbitrators

In September 2025, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), the international division of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), announced that AI arbitrators will be available from November 2025 for eligible document-only construction disputes.

The ICDR, whilst headquartered in the US, is one of the largest international arbitral institutions, administering cases globally - including those arising in the energy and construction sectors - with access to hearing facilities worldwide through its global network of cooperative agreements, including with the United Kingdom.

The AAA-ICDR has proved to be quite forward thinking in aiming to maximise the effective and responsible use of AI in the arbitration process. In October 2024, it introduced a tool called AAAi Panellist Search for use internally to help case managers select the most suitable arbitrator candidates during the arbitrator nomination process.

The AI arbitrator

The ICDR’s “AI arbitrator” will not act autonomously; it will operate with human verification and oversight, with awards drafted through the use of a structured legal prompt library and conversational AI. These awards are then reviewed by human arbitrators, who assess the reasoning and accuracy and, if necessary, revise the award.

As per the ICDR’s official announcement, the AI tool has been trained and developed by reference to over 1,500 actual awards in construction cases, which were annotated by lawyers and arbitrators to create a “high-quality dataset of arguments, evidence, and legal reasoning”.

Further information will be made available in due course. In the meantime, the ICDR has revealed that, when the parties have submitted legal arguments and/or other materials, the AI arbitrator will carry out an analysis which is presented back to the parties for validation. Therefore, the parties will have an opportunity to satisfy themselves that the AI arbitrator understands their case, before any award is drafted for human verification.

In essence, therefore, the ICDR’s AI arbitrator will serve as a co-pilot rather than a decision-maker, albeit a “very muscular one”, as described by the ICDR’s executive vice president. In fact, the AAA-ICDR’s Guidance on Arbitrators’ Use of AI Tools dated March 2025 emphasises independent decision-making and makes it clear that arbitrators should use AI tools that support – not replace – the arbitrator’s judgment and expertise.

The advantages of an AI arbitrator

The obvious advantages to an augmented process are reductions in cost and complexity, with the utilisation of this tool in ICDR arbitrations likely to result in a quicker and more simplified process for the parties.

It has been reported that the ICDR is projecting the AI arbitrator could reduce the cost to parties by 30% – 50%. This is a huge saving, particularly given the rising costs of international arbitration generally, as illustrated by the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)’s updated costs and duration analysis (2024), which also found that the average duration of proceedings it administered had increased from 16 to 20 months.

If costs are significantly decreased by the introduction of this AI arbitrator, in time, it is likely to lead to an increase in the number of disputes referred, with parties potentially less inclined to abandon or settle disputes unfavourably due to financial constraints.

Moreover, particularly in construction, where cash flow and project timelines are critical, if parties have an ability to obtain a timely final determination of a dispute - without the prospect of long and drawn-out proceedings – we may see a shift in the balance from compromise to resolution.

AI in arbitration

As to the broader advantages and disadvantages of AI in international arbitration, please see our earlier article.

Generally speaking, the key issues are the importance of human input and oversight with regard to the use of AI, as well as transparency and the obligation for tribunals (and indeed parties) to disclose any use of AI. For tribunals, this is particularly crucial if AI has been used to produce an award.

Pursuant to the AAA-ICDR Guidance referred to above, arbitrators are encouraged to embrace AI technology while adhering to their professional obligations, for example under the Code of Ethics for Arbitrators in Commercial Disputes. They are also required to disclose their use of AI in the interests of transparency.

The CIArb’s Guidelines on the Use of AI in Arbitration (2025) emphasise that the use of AI will not impact on the tribunal in retaining responsibility for the conduct of the arbitration proceedings. Furthermore, the tribunal can give directions with regard to the use of AI in order to maintain the integrity of the proceedings and to minimise any subsequent challenges to the enforceability of an award.

In its Guide to the use of artificial intelligence in cases administered under the SCC rules (2024), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Institute (SCC) observes that in order to manage the potential of AI, it should be qualified by “effective human oversight” and that practitioners should “ensure any use of AI does not lead to any reduction in the quality of their decisions”.

Different international arbitration institutions and organisations are embracing the use of AI, and its regulation, at different paces. For example, the LCIA, SIAC and HKIAC have yet to publish any formal guidance. Undoubtedly, however, those who have not yet addressed the issue formally will need to start doing so before long, given the increasing use of AI in dispute resolution generally.

In this regard, earlier this year HKIAC announced a partnership with Jus Mundi that facilitates the use of their Jus AI capabilities to prepare the case abstracts, and in Singapore, where AI continues to be used in arbitration to support case management, the Singapore Courts have also developed a Guide on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools by Court Users (effective from October 2024). The Guide’s governance principles – to ensure that AI is used ethically and transparently in court proceedings – are likely to also be applicable to arbitration. In 2025, the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR also launched a task force to consider the use of AI.

Comment

Although the focus is currently on streamlining the resolution of high-volume, lower complexity and value construction disputes, the ICDR has confirmed that it plans to expand eligibility for the AI arbitrator to other industries, dispute types and higher value claims in 2026 and beyond.

It will be interesting to see what types of dispute and which industries will be considered suitable for an AI arbitrator.

The key attraction of sector-specific, specialised arbitration services is the body of arbitrators with the relevant knowledge, background and experience. It remains to be seen if and to what extent AI, including AI arbitrators, can offer anything like an equivalent.