If you are interested in AI and mediation, check out Jim Melamed’s excellent webinar, Balancing Automation, AI & the Human Touch, sponsored by the Greater New York Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution and the CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

There are tons of webinars and podcasts, and no one has time to watch or listen to them all.  This one really should be worth your time.

Jim founded the Mediation Center in Eugene, Oregon, in 1983 and served as Executive Director of the Academy of Family Mediators from 1987 to 1993.  He co-founded Mediate.com in 1996 and served as its CEO through June 2020.  He has conducted 2,500 mediations.

His presentation began with a review of how technology has evolved since the 1980s and how mediation practice developed in parallel.  This, in itself, provided useful insights about things we now take for granted.

He explained that until the widespread use of AI, these technological changes were essentially improvements in the “plumbing” of communication.  AI is revolutionary because it produces content to flow through that plumbing.  AI tools can assist mediators regardless of their particular mediation philosophy.

He discussed the future of mediation and AI, and he argues that there always will be a need for a “human touch” even as the technology becomes much more capable.

His powerpoint gives a flavor of his presentation, though it is well worth watching the full recording.

Take a look.