The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva, Switzerland today issued a new international standard addressing the use of technology, including artificial intelligence, in settling e-commerce disputes. The ISO adopted, as principles, the standards developed by the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution (NCTDR) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, considered the birthplace of online dispute resolution.

The ISO standard, which has been the subject of years of negotiations, will govern billions of e-commerce disputes that arise each year.

“This marks a watershed moment in international standardization of the use of artificial intelligence and other forms of technology to handle disputes in online transactions,” says NCTDR Director Leah Wing, senior lecturer II and honors director of legal studies at UMass Amherst.

The standard, “Transaction Assurance in E-commerce — Guidance for Offering Online Dispute Resolution Services ISO 32122,” will streamline the resolution and enforcement of disputes across jurisdictions, especially for cross-border, low-value transactions. It outlines the appropriate use of AI and other technologies in such cases and establishes protections for consumers and businesses.

Under ISO 32122, AI may be used to automate components of negotiation, mediation and arbitration, and can also assist with tasks such as text formulation, brainstorming and decision-making. However, the standard calls for AI’s use to be disclosed, and that there be protocols in place for human oversight.

“AI offers tremendous opportunities, not just to increase speed and reduce costs, but to add new dimensions and creativity to online dispute resolution,” says Wing, who is also co-founder and 2023 board president of the International Council for Online Dispute Resolution (ICODR). “That said, AI technology is becoming ubiquitous and we run the risk of its usage without sufficient guardrails. This standard reflects international consensus regarding dispute resolution in e-commerce — that it is important to be transparent about how technologies, including AI, are being used and ensure that a human can step in if necessary.”

The standard incorporates nine principles for online dispute resolution providers: accessible; accountable; competent; confidential; equal; fair, impartial and neutral; legal; secure; and transparent. The principles were adopted directly from Online Dispute Resolution Standards published by NCTDR in conjunction with the nonprofit membership organization, ICODR.

Founded in 1998 by legal studies faculty Ethan Katsh and Janet Rifkin, NCTDR developed the first experiments in online dispute resolution, including proof of concept for reputational feedback as a form of dispute prevention and resolution for a fledgling e-commerce company, eBay. Today, similar systems are used to settle disagreements in commercial transactions, courts, negotiation, mediation and arbitration worldwide.

As an independent, nongovernmental organization with 173 national standards bodies as members, ISO is the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standards. It has issued nearly 26,000 standards for everything from seat belts and food safety to health care and manufacturing.