Every mediator knows many people come to a mediation with only one outcome in mind and are usually ready to fight for that result.

With this in mind, most mediators work to help disputants consider other acceptable outcomes.

This is an example where the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for suggestions of different posiible resolutions can be an effective tool. For example, I asked this simple question: “My neighbor’s dog bit my son requiring $230 in medical expenses. My son went into her yard to retrieve a ball. My neighbor says my son has been teasing her dog. How can I handle this in mediation?”

Most people would go into the mediation demanding $230 and be willing to compromise.

ChatGPT, an AI platform, proved to be a good preparation coach:

1 – Contended that dog owners are legally liable, but entering the yard and teasing the dog could reduce liability

2 – Suggested what evidence to gather, such as bills, photos, and witnesses.

3 – Suggested wording to cooperatively respond to the teasing allegation without admitting fault.

4 – Suggested items to discuss, such as fencing, warning signs, educating the child, notifications to enter yard.

5 – Suggested behaviors in mediation, such as staying calm, not arguing, allowing the mediator to guide the discussion.

A mediator would still be required to guide the process, but AI “coaching” before a mediation can open up disputants to alternative solutions and provide guidelines for a more productive mediation.

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Fred Jandt is the author of “How to Survive a Mediation,” available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold.

Over the decades I’ve conducted scores of training programs for volunteer mediators and about 80% or more of the participants have been women.

With the recent publication of my book “How to Survive a Mediation,” I compiled a list of Community Mediation Centers throughout America. For those I could identify in the role of Executive Director, 90% or more were women.

Historically women have been leaders in peace building. Since the mid-nineteenth century, women have been forming peace groups. Jane Addams convened a meeting of women’s peace groups in 1915. Critics included Theodore Roosevelt, who called the International Congress of Women a “shrieking sisterhood of pacifists.” Nonetheless, the concepts developed at the congress preceded what was to become the League of Nations.

Currently, a goal launched by the United Nations is to esstablish full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding by 2030. As recently as 2022, women represented only 16% of negotiators in active peace processes led or co-led by the United Nations. Of the eighteen peace agreements concluded that year, only one had a woman signatory.

Irene Santiago, one of the first woman negotiators for the Philippine government, identified a historical barrier to women’s participation in peace negotiations. When the negotiations focus only on ending war, women are less likely to be included, but when negotiations are both on ending war and building peace, women have had a seat at the table. And research has shown women’s participation increases the probability of a peace agreement lasting at least two years by 20% and lasting 15 years by 35%.

With such results, it’s unfortunate men don’t participate as much in local community mediation programs and equally unfortunate women aren’t included to take part in more international peace negotiations.

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Fred Jandt is the author of “How to Survive a Mediation,” available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold.