AI & Construction Law: An Essential And Inevitable Partnership

Part 1: Risk and contract management

"Risk and contract management" may sound boring and tedious to some. However, when it comes to keeping on top of your construction contracts, nothing could be more important. Any tool which assists in this respect and increases the chances for a project's success is therefore essential. When we consider how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning may play a part in all of this, we see that the use of these tools is inevitable. It is only a matter of time before they become part and parcel of daily contract and project management routines. If risk and contract management become more reliable, more robust, easier and more efficient through the use of intelligent and automated processes, perhaps they may even become a bit more exciting to some.1

Assuming for the moment risk and obligation management is paramount: do you review all contracts before signing, regardless of the value? Do you have an efficient and automated means of monitoring all obligations within all of your contracts and an understanding the differences or anomalies between each one? Is there a system in place which highlights and organises the contractual risks across your contracts and/or automatically alerts you when deadlines are fast approaching? When it comes to disputes, are you able to predict the likely outcome, from a Judge or Adjudicator's point of view, so that you can take an informed decision on how to proceed?

Whilst there is not (and I would suggest there is unlikely to be anytime soon) any one piece of software which will solve all of your problems, there certainly are platforms and technologies available now which utilise AI and machine learning to assist with solutions to some of the questions posed above.

A lot of discussion, and indeed hype, exists at the moment around AI: for example, will robots and machines take over the role and/or services of the lawyer? Rather than continuing this debate, efforts are best placed on focusing on and developing the practical applications of the technologies currently available.

This article looks generally at some of the current technologies available2 and begins to consider how they may assist in a construction context.

Artificial Intelligence (AI): the jargon

Before jumping feet first into what technologies available and which one(s) you should choose, it is essential to understand first what is AI and what issue are you trying to solve or what efficiency do you want it to improve upon.

To start with, what is AI? Perhaps Deloitte's simple definition is most helpful. AI is:

"the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence".3

As journalist and author Joanna Goodman summarises:

"Basically, artificial intelligence is about machines...