RIYADH: A workshop on the use of artificial intelligence in judicial trials was held on the sidelines of the International Conference on Justice on Monday in Riyadh. James MacPherson, an international dispute resolution specialist, told Arab News that law firms should consider so-called alternative dispute resolution, which seeks to resolve disputes without a trial. “When individuals and companies encounter problems or disputes, they will want to manage and resolve that conflict as quickly and reasonably as possible. “The reason ADR is the most popular alternative to traditional court litigation is all about control. “The most common forms of ADR, arbitration and mediation, allow parties to retain control over the process in a way they can’t in a court of law,” said MacPherson. ADR is autonomous, MacPherson said, as “it provides parties with the ability to make their own choices and decisions before the mediation or arbitration begins. To make the most of this opportunity, parties should ensure they draft a clear and workable ADR clause.” Parties can choose the time, place, applicable law and language to be used and who will be the neutral mediator or arbitrator.  “If your goal is to resolve the dispute, ADR is the best option,” MacPherson said. “Once parties have had a productive mediation session or a well drafted arbitration award, they grasp their utility, and usually favorably compare them to traditional court litigation.” He added: “ADR provider institutions like the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration,  Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution, and the Oman Arbitration Center, which offer both arbitration and mediation, have all been doing great work training local mediators and arbitrators, and engaging with corporations, lawyers and even university students to ensure they have a firm understanding of ADR and how to maximize their use of it.” Ghadi Aljohni, a contract specialist at Resal, said she attended the workshop hoping to learn more about AI. She has used ChatGPT, a new AI chatbot that is equipped with powerful problem-solving tools. “I hope to maximize the benefits of AI, and lower the chance of human error in the case of reviewing, proofing or drafting as well. It’s baffling to me how much AI has changed in a matter of short years,” Aljohni said. “I still have doubts about AI actually being fair in litigation or meditation, especially cases are not straightforward and cannot be stripped to only data and numbers.” Aleksandra Czubek, moderator of the “Data Analytics for Justice Enhancement” session, told Arab News that people will always be essential in overseeing judicial procedures. “Never mind how much technology we use in the traditional or any system, really, it always has to be overlooked by a human being who manages it, who trains it, and who oversees the outcome of the AI being implemented in the tradition,” said Czubek, an associate at SSW Pragmatic Solutions based in Poland. “Always remember not to let AI go loose. So, introduce it and just make it train itself and then use the outcomes of the self-trained AI. We always have to have a person, a human being, overlooking the result of the implementation of AI.” Saudi lawyer Nasreen Alissa said: “We are planning to use AI in the future. Right now, we are using Najiz and most of the Ministry of Justice services.” Lawyer Ian Wang, spokesperson for Chinese law firm DeHeng Law Offices, highlighted the importance of data protection to avoid security issues. “If there is a leak, it will cause a huge problem for people financially or even physically. So, I think that is why we need to develop guidance standards and rulings to manage the development of AI,” Wang said.