Speaking on Arbitrating in the Age of Disruption at MIDS, Geneva, Senior Advocate Gourab Banerji said the legal profession is entering a period where artificial intelligence may fundamentally alter the value traditionally attached to human intellectual capital.

Mr Gourab Banerji noted that AI is already transforming arbitration, enabling tasks such as summarising voluminous records, preparing first drafts of procedural histories and stress-testing legal reasoning. He cautioned, however, that the real challenge posed by AI goes beyond existing concerns around confidentiality, disclosure, hallucinations and non-delegation of decision-making.

Drawing on concerns about the impact of over-reliance on AI on learning, critical thinking, professional identity and practical experience, Banerji asked how lawyers can make themselves irreplaceable when AI increasingly performs analytical tasks. He argued that while AI can enhance efficiency, it cannot address fundamentally human attributes such as greed and jealousy.

Banerji identified legitimacy and trust as deeper challenges for arbitration. He observed that arbitration is not fundamentally an information problem but a “trust problem”, since parties agree to entrust a human arbitrator with deciding their dispute. According to him, trust rests on judgment rather than prediction.

He drew a distinction between expertise and character, observing that expertise is what an arbitration lawyer knows and may eventually be replicated by AI, whereas character is what the lawyer is. He said this value encompasses self-awareness, curiosity, communication, listening, empathy, collaboration, humility and authenticity, ultimately culminating in trust.

Addressing young lawyers, Banerji offered two pieces of advice: ‘be interested in everything except the law’ and ‘protect your reputation’. He cautioned against becoming one-dimensional lawyers and described reputation as the profession’s most important and fragile asset.