AI Arbitrators Coming Soon to Construction Cases

 

By Leslie King O’Neal[i]

AAA Announces AI Arbitrator for Construction Cases

AI Arbitrator Trained on 1,500 Construction Cases

Trained on more than 1,500 construction awards with actual arbitrator reasoning, the AI arbitrator was calibrated, trained and tested with input from construction attorneys and trained arbitrators to enhance accuracy, usability and trust. Using a structured legal prompt library and conversational AI, it is supposed to deliver clear, legally sound, draft awards. The platform is designed to streamline proceedings, reduce costs and enhance transparency, while maintaining fairness and due process. AAA tested the AI arbitrator across over 1,000 simulated cases using actual completed disputes from AAA’s data repository.[v]

Humans in the Loop

When parties submit case materials, the AI system deconstructs their submissions, identifying claims, evidence and legal theories. The parties validate the AI analysis.[vi]  After the submissions are complete, AAA appoints a human arbitrator from its panel, using the usual method, including disclosures and conflict checking.[vii] “The appointed arbitrator gets access to ‘a very muscular co-pilot’ interface, featuring organized case summaries, timeline views, claims analysis, and, crucially, a complete draft award.”[viii]  The human arbitrator reviews the draft award and supporting analysis. The final issued award carries the human arbitrator’s name and certification because they are issuing the decision, not merely reviewing AI output. “The AI is issuing an award, but the human is validating it, and the human is signing.”[ix]

Ethical Questions Raised

This raises some ethical questions. What ethical obligations do human arbitrators have when reviewing and using an AI arbitrator’s award? Current guidelines prohibit arbitrators from allowing AI to make case decisions, but they don’t provide a definitive test for when that occurs.[x] Will parties using the AI arbitrator system have to sign waivers or releases regarding challenging the awards? See prior post discussing a party’s motion to vacate an arbitration award because the arbitrator allegedly used AI to decide the case.

How Much AI in Arbitration is Too Much?

Dealing with Potential Bias

 Also, what methods are used to reduce bias in the AI system?[xi] Bias is always a concern in training AI tools. “Human and AI biases can . . . create a feedback loop, with small initial biases increasing the risk of human error, according to the findings published in Nature Human Behaviour.”[xii] What methods are used to minimize bias from the AI Arbitrator’s training materials? Parties and arbitrators may want to know this.

Additional Industries & Dispute Types Coming in 2026

AAA plans to add additional industries, dispute types and higher value claims in 2026.[xiii] According to Diana Didia, AAA’s EVP and chief technology and innovation officer, the next areas will be insurance cases, specifically payer-provider disputes.[xiv]

Benefits to Parties—And to Arbitrators

The AI arbitrator, by reducing costs and complexity, could open dispute resolution to parties who currently cannot afford traditional processes. Will human arbitrators be replaced? No, according to Bridget McCormack, “Because AI is going to open the arbitration process to more people, she emphasized, that means more opportunities for arbitrators. “It’s not going to put you out of business. Quite the opposite. It’s going to allow significantly more disputes to come our way. “But you do have to come along for the ride.”[xv]

What Kinds of Cases Will Use AI Arbitrators?

Currently AI arbitration seems best suited to small dollar claims where efficiency is critical and risk is low. AAA already offers online dispute resolution through its ODR platform (https://odr.com/), which eBay and PayPal used to create Community Court.[xvi]  The European Union, Mexico and Canada also use ODR platforms to resolve consumer disputes and small claims.[xvii] ODR is good for low-dollar claims because it offers ease and efficiency. It lowers costs for consumers and helps businesses retain customers by providing a method to resolve consumer complaints.[xviii]

AAA Comments on AI Arbitrator

“Now is the time to embrace AI to drive positive change through speed, efficiency and accuracy. Our AI arbitrator can deliver timely and transparent outcomes that meet the speed of today’s society.”[xix] “With our AI arbitrator we set out to create a solution that an emulate human judgment, and with human arbitrator validation can provide a whole new path to dispute resolution,” said Diana Didia, EVP and chief technology and innovation officer of AAA-ICDR.[xx]

Takeaways

• AI tools continue to evolve and develop, making it essential for lawyers and ADR professionals to understand their uses.

• Current ADR rules and ethical guidelines should be revised to cover ethical issues AI use raises for arbitrators and lawyers.

Resources:

Recent blog posts discussed issues about AI use in ADR:

Can Arbitrators Sanction Attorneys for AI Hallucinations?

JAMS Introduces New Rules for AI Disputes

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[i] Note: I am on the AAA Construction Arbitration Panel

[ii] https://www.adr.org/press-releases/aaa-icdr-to-launch-ai-native-arbitrator-transforming-dispute-resolution/

[iii]  See: https://go.adr.org/2025-future-of-dispute-resolution-hackathon for registration and details.

[iv] Quoted in Bob Ambrogi, AAA Readies November Launch of AI-Powered Arbitrator for Construction Disputes, LawSites (September 22, 2025), https://www.lawnext.com/2025/09/aaa-readies-november-launch-of-ai-powered-arbitrator-for-construction-disputes.html

[iv] https://odr.com/case-studies/

[v] Id.

[vi] Id.

[vii] Id.

[viii] Id.

[ix] Diana Didia, quoted in Ambrogi, supra, note iii.

[x] Currently, the only published guidelines for AI use in ADR are the SVAMC Guidelines https://svamc.org and the CIARB Guideline https://www.ciarb.org/.

[xi] See John P. Desmond, Update on Bias in AI: Solutions Elusive, https://aiinbusiness.substack.com/ (September 25, 2025). “AI systems tend to take on human biases and amplify them, causing people who use that AI to become more biased themselves” (citing study at University College London). “AI bias occurs when the dataset used to train a model does not represent the broader population it is intended to serve.” Citing study from Standish Group, Mitigation of AI Bias Using Elegant Nearest Neighbor (ENN) Technology. See also, Glickman, M., Sharot, T. How human–AI feedback loops alter human perceptual, emotional and social judgements. Nat Hum Behav 9, 345–359 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02077-2

[xii] Id.

[xiii] https://www.adr.org/press-releases/aaa-icdr-to-launch-ai-native-arbitrator-transforming-dispute-resolution/

[xiv] Quoted in AAA-ICDR to Launch AI-Native Arbitrator, Transforming Dispute Resolution https://www.adr.org/press-releases/aaa-icdr-to-launch-ai-native-arbitrator-transforming-dispute-resolution/

[xv] Id.

[xvi] https://odr.com/case-studies/

[xvii] See, Online Dispute Resolution Guide, University of Missouri School of Law https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/c.php?g=557240. “ODR emerged in the mid-1990’s as a response to disputes arising from the expansion of e-commerce. . . .” “ODR is the application of information and communications technology to the prevention, management and resolution of disputes.”

[xviii] Id.

[xix] https://www.adr.org/press-releases/aaa-icdr-to-launch-ai-native-arbitrator-transforming-dispute-resolution/

[xx] Id.