Expert Witness Journal Issue 64 December 2025 - Flipbook - Page 86
Arbitration and AI: From Data Processing
to Deepfakes. Outlining the Potential and Pitfalls - of AI in Arbitration
by Matthew R. M. Walker, Partner & Jack B. Salter, Senior Associate at K&L Gates
The following article was produced for and 昀椀rst
presented at the 11th International Society of
Construction Law Conference, 22-24 October 2025.
shaping energy policy,2 it is playing a role in warfare3
and it is already appearing in a courtroom near you.4
Arbitral tribunals will need to get comfortable, and
quickly, with using AI in arbitration–harnessing its
strengths while avoiding its pitfalls.
At the 11th International Society of Construction
Law Conference held in South Korea recently,
London & Doha partner Matthew Walker spoke on
the topic “Options for User-Friendly Arbitration
in the Future”. Alongside this talk, Matthew and
London senior associate Jack Salter authored a
paper outlining the opportunities and risks posed
by arti昀椀cial intelligence in international arbitration.
Huge advances in the capabilities of large language
models (LLMs) are accelerating the pace of change
within the AI industry. No one is immune to its
impact. Even lawyers, often reticent to change,
are scrambling to get to grips with the library of
platforms that are now marketed as game-changers
in our work. As of September 2024, LexisNexis
reported that more than 80% of lawyers use or plan
to use AI in their work,5 a 昀椀gure set only to increase.
Lawyers now need to invest in the right tech stack
and must learn how to deploy it e昀昀ectively. Firms
which resist this change will 昀椀nd themselves losing
out to their more innovative competitors.6
Abstract
For all forms of dispute resolution, it is a case of
“adapt or die.” Conventional domestic construction
arbitration in the United Kingdom has all but
vanished, with most construction disputes now
resolved in adjudication. Over the course of the next
ten years, global projects will contend with increased
competition for resources against the backdrop of
growing populations and escalating pressures of
climate change, while companies and their lawyers
grapple with political change and the opportunities
(and risks) that arti昀椀cial intelligence (AI) will bring.
Whether or not you are a fan of international
arbitration in its current format, it will inevitably
change in the next decade. Our panel will therefore
explore how arbitration can adapt and stay relevant
for its users, against the backdrop of the social,
political and technological changes and challenges
that it will face between now and 2035. In particular,
we will look at how arbitration might harness AI
to enhance, economise and expedite proceedings
while avoiding the generation of 昀椀ctional data and
deepfakes.
Nowhere is this pressure more obvious than in the
world of disputes and in particular international
arbitration, where rising fees provoke concerns
for clients across the globe. The 2024 GAR-LCIA
roundtable7 discussed at length the notion that
international arbitration had “lost its way,” with
spiralling costs, delays and lengthy submissions
being criticised. While the complexity of disputes
and the volume of information required to decide
them appears to be increasing,8 the search for
procedural and cost e昀케ciency requires parties and
their counsel to seek solutions which achieve better
results in a more proportionate way. AI will surely
help to achieve that. The potential competitive
rewards for those that push themselves to the
cutting edge could be signi昀椀cant.9
It is not only lawyers who will need to contend with
the advent of AI in arbitration, but also legislators
and arbitrators. Only 昀椀ve weeks before this
conference, and our discussion of this topic, the
International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR)
announced its launch of an AI-based arbitrator for
documents-only construction cases.10 How quickly
Introduction
AI is the topic of the moment, and rightly so. For
many, the authors included, AI represents the
fourth industrial revolution.1 If it has not started to
do so already, AI will soon disrupt and change global
economies and societies in a profound way. It is
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
83
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2025-2026
