Employing Artificial Intelligence in the Interpretation of Contracts: A Legal Analysis

Abstract

interpretation of contracts — as a subject — has been gaining more and more prominence and advancing at a very fast pace, as both in domestic and crossborder transactions, the main issue which the court or the tribunal, in a contractual dispute, normally addresses is in relation to the contract interpretation. Parties generally express their contract through a human language. Being an organic discipline, the language does not have a mathematical preciseness, for the meaning of the words and phrases keeps growing, evolving and expanding. Consequently, a contract is always to be construed against its context and background. These amazing facts about the language make the phenomenon of contract interpretation all the more fascinating as well as challenging. As artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly making inroads into different walks of life and functioning, therefore, the judicial system, judicial processes and dispute resolution systems cannot distance away from AI. Specifically, with regard to the interpretation of contract and AI, two legal questions arise: (a) what assistance, if any, can technology provide in the process of contract interpretation? (b) Whether the process of contract interpretation, with the help of appropriate technology or AI, be automated? These questions indeed unwrap a new area of legal research with the aim of examining whether or not the process of interpretation of contract can be automated. The first section of this paper introduces the subject and opens up the discussion. The second section explores the possibility of using technology for either interpreting a contract or providing aid in the process of interpretation. The third section critically reconnoitres the extent to which automation is possible in the process of interpretation of contracts. The fourth section highlights the limitations of the court in using AI for the contract interpretation. Finally, the last section concludes the discussion.