The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Investor-State Arbitration and Mediation
Artificial intelligence is reshaping international investor-state arbitration, offering new ways to streamline processes, reduce costs, and support arbitrators in managing complex cases. AI can assist with fact-finding, generating timelines, drafting procedural histories, and handling template-based tasks such as costs or damages, while predictive analytics may help forecast outcomes where sufficient historical data exists, as in third-party funding. However, there are not many investment awards, and much of their content is heavily redacted, which limits the datasets available for AI. Arbitration requires more than pattern recognition. Human arbitrators bring judgment, empathy, moral reasoning, and the ability to interpret ambiguous legal concepts, all of which AI cannot replicate. Bias in training data, opaque algorithms, and concerns about transparency and accountability mean AI cannot serve as a standalone decision-maker. Guidelines such as those from SVAMC and CIArb, along with regulations like the EU AI Act, emphasise that arbitrators must retain ultimate authority and verify AI outputs. Used strategically, AI can enhance efficiency and support decision-making while preserving fairness, legitimacy, and human oversight.
Mediation, long underutilised in international investment disputes compared to arbitration, can also benefit from AI integration. AI can optimise outcomes and suggest solutions that are mutually beneficial and durable, but its role should complement human mediators rather than replace them. A hybrid-AI approach combines the innovative capabilities of AI with human judgment and oversight, offering a pathway to improve mediation while maintaining the essential human qualities of intuition, empathy, and creativity. The guest lecture will take a critical look at AI’s role in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and explore how it could contribute to broader ISDS reform.
This event, part of the AI & Law Lecture Series, is particularly relevant for students, researchers, and practitioners in law, economics, political relations, and finance. There will be an interactive discussion and Apero following the presentation.
When / Wann: May 12, 2026, 17:00 - 18:00
Where / Wo: Digital Society Initiative, Rämistrasse 69, 8001 Zurich
Language / Sprache: English
Organisation: DSI Community AI & Law
About the Speaker
Mr. Ata Türkfiliz is a PhD researcher at the University of Antwerp, Faculty of Law, and the Antwerp Center on Responsible AI, and serves on the Steering and Membership Committees of the Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center Young Professionals. He is also a researcher at the International Institute of Space Law and a registered attorney at the Istanbul Bar. He holds an LL.M. in European and International Law from the Europa-Institut at Saarland University, specializing in International Dispute Resolution and Foreign Trade and Investment (2024); a Master’s in Public Law from Istanbul University (2024); and a BA in Law from Bilkent University (2021).