Artificial Intelligence and renegotiation of commercial lease contracts affected by pandemic-related contingencies from Covid-19. The Project A.I.A.Co.

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the possibility of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to resolve the legal issues raised by the Covid-19 emergency about the fate of contracts with continuous, repeated or deferred performance, as well as, more generally, to deal with exceptional events and contingencies. We first study whether the Italian legal system allows for `maintenance' remedies to face contingencies and to avoid the termination of the (duration) contracts, while ensuring effective protection of the interests of both parties. We then give a complete and technical description of an AI-based predictive framework, aimed at assisting both the Magistrate (during the trial) and the parties themselves (in out-of-court proceedings) in the redetermination of the rent of commercial lease contracts. This framework, called A.I.A.Co. for Artificial Intelligence for contract law Against Covid-19, has been developed under the Italian public grant called Fondo Integrativo Speciale per la Ricerca and - even if the predictive system was initially intended to deal with the very specific problem connected to Covid-19 - the knowledge acquired, the model produced and the research outcomes can be easily transferred to other civil issues (such as, for example, those relating to the determination of the amount of the maintenance or divorce obligation in family law).