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to various criteria, giving priority to nonstop flights, more direct routes, and minimal
total travel time. But the sorting always presented agents with flights from the sponsoring

American Airlines on the first page even when other airlines had cheaper or more direct
flights for the same query. This led to allegations of anticompetitive practices and thus,

American Airlines had to make the SABRE system more transparent. Algorithms can
indeed misbehave, resulting in incorrect, inequitable, or perhaps even hazardous
consequences. It was also reported that whilst AI is getting closer to acquiring human-

like abilities, they are also absorbing deeply ingrained biases. According to a computer
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scientist quoted in the report, ‘A lot of people are saying this is showing that AI is

prejudiced. No. This is showing we’re prejudiced and that AI is learning it.’ 31

IV. DELIVERANCE - TECHNOLOGY IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC

It would be necessary to highlight some salient points on the adoption of
technology due to recent events besetting us. The world came under siege by

the COVID-19 pandemic which led to a mad scramble for temporary solutions or
alternative to the way we have been conducting our business affairs and lives before
the pandemic. In particular, the way we conduct international dispute resolution is also

not spared by the pandemic. Technology has stepped in to provide a solution to
the current impediments of, inter alia, inability to meet face to face for meetings or

proceedings. There has been a mixed bag of feedback about the conduct of dispute
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resolution virtually or online, with sceptics pro tempore accepting it as a transitory
solution whereas proponents are celebrating. With respect, there was unlikely to be

a moment of epiphany when parties turned to ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) during

30 Hannah Devlin, ‘AI Programs Exhibit Racial and Gender Biases, Research Reveals’ The Guardian
(London, 13 April 2017) <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/13/ai-programs-exhibit-racist-and-
sexist-biases-research-reveals> accessed 1 April 2021
31 ibid
32 See e.g., ‘Covid-19 forces courts to hold proceedings online’ The Economist (London, 14 June 2020) <
https://www.economist.com/international/2020/06/14/covid-19-forces-courts-to-hold-proceedings-online> accessed
31 March 2021

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