When the American Arbitration Association® (AAA) last appeared on the LawNext podcast nearly two years ago, the discussion centered on innovation — how a century-old organization could reimagine dispute resolution in the age of AI. On its most recent podcast appearance, the AAA’s President and CEO Bridget Mary McCormack and Executive Vice President and Chief Technology and Innovation Officer Diana Didia joined host Bob Ambrogi to share how far the AAA has come since then.
The headline news: the AAA’s first AI arbitrator is set to transform dispute resolution.
“We are in a very different place across the profession today than we were even six or twelve months ago,” said McCormack. “There are only going to be more cases turning to ADR. Figuring out how we can arm our panelists with the best technology that parties are going to want feels like a win-win.”
A CENTURY OF LEADERSHIP MEETS AN AI FUTURE
As the AAA approaches its 100th anniversary in 2026, it continues to do everything but act its age — behaving like a tech startup, embracing AI, and pushing boundaries.
“Our mission has always been to deliver trusted, fair, and efficient resolution,” explained McCormack. “Technology has long helped us do that, and AI is simply the next step in that evolution.”
The AAA’s approach to AI isn’t about chasing trends — it’s about meeting the moment, responding to rising costs, growing case complexity, and the demand for faster outcomes, all while maintaining fairness and transparency.
“What differentiates our product from anything else that could be built,” McCormack added, “is that we have one hundred years of expertise to train it on. Our AI arbitrator has practiced in the process — it’s been trained on real awards, with deep expertise in construction guiding its development and testing. That’s what makes our product more robust.”
MEETING THE MOMENT
Businesses today face mounting pressure to resolve disputes quickly and cost-effectively. Smaller companies and self-represented parties — nearly 40% of the AAA’s commercial and construction cases — need greater accessibility, while large corporate users want tighter timelines and predictable costs.
“AI gives us a way to meet these pressures without losing the human touch,” said Didia. “Our hybrid model combines the speed and analytical strength of AI with the oversight and judgment of experienced arbitrators.”
The first AI arbitrator use case — documents-only construction disputes— is already in pilot testing.
“We built it with a very specific use case in mind,” McCormack said. “Construction made sense to start with, and from there we’ll build additional case uses. The next will focus on another ‘meaty data set,’ as Diana describes it — an area rich in precedent and complexity that will make training even more effective. As we move forward, the AI arbitrator will only become easier to train and already acts as a very capable co-pilot.”
Early testing shows promise: decisions were delivered about 20% faster and cost reductions averaged around 35%, all while preserving the fairness and transparency that define the AAA’s process.
“At its core, this makes the process simpler and keeps costs down,” McCormack said. “That’s a win for parties, panelists, and the system as a whole. It’s a brand-new way for small and medium businesses and organizations without endless budgets to resolve disputes. It opens dispute resolution to more parties, brings down costs, simplifies the process for users, and creates completely new frontiers — having a tremendous impact on access to justice.”
AI PREPARES THE AWARD; THE HUMAN VALIDATES AND ISSUES IT
Didia explained, “It’s a very muscular co-pilot. We spent a lot of time with arbitrators in the development process. It shows all the case summaries, timelines, and issue analysis, but the piece that’s different is that it actually drafts an award. It has reasoned its way through the evidence and produced a draft award for the human arbitrator. Now, the arbitrator can read the draft, review the evidence, validate, or adjust it, and issue the final award. It’s their award. And the game-defining element is that everyone — parties and arbitrators alike — feels heard. That sense of being understood and respected is what truly sets this process apart.”
HUMAN + AI: CONFIDENCE IN EVERY DECISION
The AI arbitrator represents a fundamental shift in arbitration. It reads submissions, analyzes evidence, applies legal principles, and drafts proposed awards, while a human arbitrator validates and finalizes each decision.
“Our AI thinks like an arbitrator, acts with integrity, and leaves the final call to people you can trust,” McCormack said.
The system is trained on actual AAA awards, capturing real arbitrator reasoning and allowing for explainability at every step. This human-plus-AI model reflects the AAA’s core belief that technology should enhance, not replace, human expertise.
“We’ve built guardrails into the process,” said Didia. “It’s transparent, ethical, and designed for accountability.”
BUILDING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION
The AAA encourages experimentation and collaboration through a structured innovation framework that filters hundreds of ideas — from workflow tools to new digital services — through testing, feedback, and deployment.
“We have more than a hundred ideas moving through our innovation pipeline at any given time,” said Didia. “We’ve built generative AI into our platforms, trained staff across departments, and empowered people to help shape the future of arbitration.”
Through internal hackathons and cross-functional teams, employees directly shape new products. For the AI arbitrator initiative alone, 20 volunteers from across the AAA contributed subject-matter expertise while continuing their daily roles.
“Our staff see opportunity, not threat,” said McCormack. “When we arm our panelists and teams with the best tools, that’s a win-win for everyone involved.”
FASTER. FAIRER. MORE ACCESSIBLE.
“Litigation can be slow and costly,” McCormack noted. “ADR is already a better option, and AI-enhanced arbitration takes that further — delivering decisions that are faster, fairer, and more transparent. We’re not just reacting to change. We’re shaping it. As we prepare for our 100th anniversary, we’re focused on what the next hundred years of fair resolution will look like.”
By fusing human judgment with AI, the AAA demonstrates that technology and trust can work hand in hand, creating a dispute-resolution system that is faster, better, and smarter.