File Picture : ANI/X
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has said that Artificial Intelligence has very quickly moved from the periphery of arbitration practice to its centre and flagged concerns over its accuracy, authenticity and ethical use.
Giving a keynote address at SIAC Annual India Conference-2026 on the topic “International Arbitration: Navigating New Realities and Stress-testing the Fundamentals”, the CJI said, “Stress-testing matters only when the fundamentals are worth preserving. I have no hesitation in admitting that in international arbitration, the foundations have remained sound.”
“AI has moved from the edges of arbitration practice to its centre, and it has done so very quickly,” he said, adding, “Questions of accuracy, authenticity, and the ethical use of AI are no longer theoretical; they are practical challenges confronting arbitrators, counsel, and institutions alike”.
The CJI pointed out that deepfake evidence, witness statements written by AI and submissions drafted entirely by a generative tool, without any disclosure, exist.
“These are not hypothetical risks anymore, and our tribunals need real tools to deal with them,” he said, suggesting that there should be a disclosure whenever generative AI has been used in preparing a witness statement or an expert report.
He said this is neither burdensome nor new because “we already expect experts to disclose matters that bear upon the reliability and independence of their opinions”.
“Disclosure of AI assistance is simply an extension of that principle, and it only promotes transparency without discouraging innovation,” CJI Kant said, adding that institutions such as Singapore International Arbitration Centre are taking the lead in developing common protocols to verify the authenticity of digital evidence.
