The First True AI Judge

Judicial Decisionmaking

Legal Formalism

Earlier this month, a legal tech startup called Fortuna Arbitration launched what it says is the first true AI judge – an automated arbitration system called Arbitrus.ai that the company claims can fully replace human arbitrators in resolving legal disputes. The system promises to cut the cost of arbitration from an average of $100,000 to just $10,000, while delivering consistent, unbiased decisions within 72 hours.

What is Arbitrus? It is a program that automates the entire arbitration process "from uploading the briefs, making the arguments, uploading evidence, and having an actual AI decisionmaker." Users can use the program to resolve a dispute or to forecast the legal viability of matters like a question about a contract.

The creators developed Arbitrus's decisionmaking powers using a "theory of automated judging" rooted in legal formalism. In short, the creators plugged into Arbitrus all "laws in unambiguous algorithmic language such that a machine could execute them mathematically and transform the statute into an interactive entity." The creators assert that Arbitrus can make "judgment calls" for more ambiguous laws. The creators also say it is possible for the user to use Arbitrus to learn the instances in which an issue is completely unaddressed by the law. Finally, Arbitrus can analyze the consequences of ideas for new laws that a user may want to pitch in order to resolve questions.

The creators claim that AI is "the best for making consistent decisions" to "look at two sides and determine the side that is most probable to win." The creators assert that using AI has enormous benefits. They concede that AI may involve what are known as "hallucinations" (in short, false answers). But the creators make the point that not only do humans functionally carry the same risk of hallucinations, humans are unpredictable. By contrast, the creators assert, AI is predictable. "It is that predictability that is going to revolutionize the legal system."

How would this have an impact on the legal landscape in the Commonwealth? That research remains to be done.

LawNext is a podcast dedicated to "Interviews with the Innovators and Entrepreneurs Who Are Driving What's Next in Law." The episode is "Is Arbitrus.ai – ‘The First True AI Judge’ – The Future of Dispute Resolution?" Visit LawNext and listen to the podcast here. Read Fortuna Arbitration's law review article about Arbitrus.ai here.