AI as a Tool to Support Negotiation Research

Abstract This article explores ways in which AI tools can help negotiation scholars do their research, drawing on presentations delivered by Ray Friedman, Emily Hu, Gale Lucas, and Zhivar Sourati at the AI Negotiation Summit at MIT. AI can be used to automate transcript coding, applying negotiation-specific (e.g., “substantiation”) or general language (e.g,. “politeness” or “turn taking”) codes. AI can be trained to act as confederates in negotiation studies, providing human-like language patterns with high levels of consistency for experimental control, and there is potential for AI to act as subjects in negotiation studies. In these ways AI can help scholars conduct research more efficiently and effectively. However, there are still great challenges, such as the inability of AI to produce human-like behavior.