A member of the Dean Rusk International Law Center’s staff, Global Practice Preparation Assistant Catrina Martin, attended this year’s ninth annual Atlanta International Arbitration Society (AtlAS) lecture, “Rage Against the Machine: Governing the Use of AI in International Arbitration.” AtlAS is one of the Center’s institutional partners, and Georgia Law alumnus Dr. Christof Siefarth (LL.M., ’88) is the newly-elected president. Below are some of Martin’s reflections of the event.

Earlier this month, the Atlanta International Arbitration Society co-hosted its 9^th annual lecture with the Charlotte International Arbitration Society, held at Wyche Law Firm in downtown Greenville, South Carolina. Stacie Strong, Acting Professor of Law at Emory University Law, presented “Rage Against the Machine: Governing the Use of AI in International Arbitration,” to a hybrid crowd of practitioners, students, and academics.

Her lecture discussed the potential copyright concerns in using AI, such as who owns the created data, as well as privacy concerns given that AI generators have the ability to move past firewalls and other security measures. Discussion included a critique of how the increasing use of AI in arbitration, and across the broader legal field, is training students and young lawyers for the profession, and developing the building block skills of research, writing, and cite checking.

Strong advised that in arbitration, both parties agree during preliminary discussions on the use of AI, and that arbitrators proactively raise the issue with their clients.

Martin reflected on the value of this topic for law students in particular:

“[Strong’s] perspective is helpful for students who are interested in best practices in arbitration, and especially those ‘digital natives,’ for whom AI usage feels like a natural extension of technology already ingrained in their legal education, such as LexisNexis case searches. For students who are interested in international arbitration, generative AI use may offer cost and time savings on the front end, but the pitfalls, especially when arbitrating across common- and civil-law countries, outweigh this potential.”

Strong has taught at law schools around the world and has acted as a dual-qualified (England-US) practitioner with major international law firms in the UK and the US. She has also written over 130 books, articles, and other works and has acted as an expert consultant to a variety of governmental, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations. A full biography can be found on Emory University’s website.