Insights in ADR

  Stepping into a high-stakes commercial construction arbitration hearing or a courtroom today, an astute observer is increasingly likely to witness the emergence of a bizarre, yet aggressively deployed, new legal strategy. Picture a multi-million dollar high-rise or commercial development facing crippling project delays, where, when pressed on why critical path sequencing logic was executed completely out of order—such as pouring concrete before structural steel inspections were finalized and signed off—the defense counsel points directly to a glowing monitor and boldly declares: “We cannot explain why the algorithm made this scheduling decision, and therefore, our client is not liable.” This ultimate modern attempt to pass the buck, shifting accountability from human project managers to autonomous AI scheduling tools, introduces what the legal community is now coining the “Black Box AI” defense; however, in the unforgiving arena of real-world dispute resolution, this defense is ...