Expert group meeting on the use of AI in legal decision-making
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Visiting Researcher Zilin Hao
We are currently hosting visiting researcher Zilin Hao, PhD researcher at Wuhan University, in January-June for a six-months research stay. She is working on her PhD thesis (Exclusive jurisdiction for cross-border litigation) and got LLM and LLB in Law (China University of Political Science and Law).
She presents herself: “My research interests focus on the fields of private international law and international civil procedure. Before I came to Rotterdam, I learned a lot from the publications of Prof. Xandra Kramer. Thus, I appreciate Professor Kramer, who integrated me into her research group. During my stay, Xandra Kramer and her team gave me warm welcome and care. Most
importantly, by participating biweekly academic seminar with professional
teammates, I can consider my thesis question from the comparative perspective of
European private international law and civil procedure law in a straight way.
I cherish this rare opportunity for an academic visit and look forward to learning more in the coming months.”
Published: May 25, 2018
On 24 May 2018 an expert roundtable took place at the Erasmus University Rotterdam entitled ‘The use of artificial intelligence in legal decision-making’. This Roundtable was organized by Dr. Erlis Themeli, Dr. Stefan Philipsen, and Prof. Evert Stamhuis with the support of the Erasmus Initiative Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity. The experts attending the event came from the legal practice, government, academia, and ICT sector. The aim of the roundtable was to map the developments in and research on the use of AI in legal decision-making, and to outline a research agenda for the near future. Prof. Stefano Puntoni (Rotterdam School of Management) and Prof. Xandra Kramer were invited to provide some ‘food for thought’ for the participants and to contribute to the discussion.
AI is one the frontiers of the digitalization of justice. It has the potential to increase access to justice and to improve the position of vulnerable parties. However, AI remains complex and its use in the application of justice carries the risk of creating a ‘black-box’ without transparency or accountability. As was pointed out in the Roundtable, the use of AI in legal decision-making creates legal, economic, as well as ethical dilemmas. What would happen if the judge is a machine? Is there a right to a human judge? What is the added value of a human judge? Is it possible to fully comprehend the decisions of a machine? These questions form the outline of a future research agenda into the use of AI in legal decision-making.
Considering the success of the event, the organizers plan to develop a theoretical framework and to design an empirical research on the reception of automated decision-making by court users.