Harnessing the power of AI for your research

Christof Koolen (KU Leuven)

22 November 2024, 12pm-4:30pm, UClouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles

Cycle Interdisciplinarités en droit

Language: English

Christof Koolen is a postdoctoral researcher at the KU Leuven’s Centre for IT & IP Law. Within his postdoctoral project, he critically examines how Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques can be applied to legal scholarship, with the specific aim of integrating NLP into the methodological toolkit of legal scholars. In parallel with his research, he is a substitute lecturer for the course Law and Artificial Intelligence and also teaches in the course AI and Society: Core Concepts. Before embarking on his academic career, Christof interned at various law firms in Brussels, and he provided legal advice on IP law issues to start-ups in the high-tech industry. He graduated from the KU Leuven in 2017 and obtained a Magister Juris degree from the University of Oxford in 2018.

12.00pm-12.45pm: Lunch

12.45pm-13.30pm: Interview with Christof Koolen, moderated by Anne-Lise Sibony

During the interview, you will learn how Christof embarked on working with language in law and came to think that Natural Language Processing (NLP) offers ways of analyzing legal doctrine or case law that complement traditional legal research methods. He’ll also share insights into his efforts to bridge the gap between law and computer science.

1.30pm-2.15 pm: Presentation – What is Natural Language Processing and what can we do with it in the legal realm? + Q/A

This guiding question provides the basis for a presentation that examines the core principles of NLP and its current and potential applications in the legal domain. The presentation will cover key use cases – such as text classification and summarization – while also addressing the operational challenges linked to implementing NLP. Attention will also be given to recent advances in computing power and the increasing availability of legal data.

2.15 pm-2.30 pm: Coffee break

2.30 pm-4.30 pm: Two-part hands-on session – Document clustering with NLP

This two-part hands-on session is designed to familiarize participants with a specific practical use case of NLP: document clustering. Participants should bring their own laptop, but no prior programming experience is expected.

In the first part, participants will follow a guided exercise using a pre-provided set of journal articles. Step-by-step instructions will be given on how to apply NLP to group different documents based on their content. The focus will be on demonstrating the different steps from input to output, with all code provided and explained in a straightforward manner.

The second part of the session allows participants to bring their own documents. In this part, attendees can apply the same clustering techniques to their own data, with guidance and support provided as needed. This interactive format enables participants to see the applicability of document clustering to their own specific datasets.

> Registration

Registered participants will receive more detailed instructions for the hands-on session towards the beginning of November.​

Location

Salle du Conseil. From the main entrance (Bd du Jardin botanique 43),take the elevator to the 4th floor. The Salle du Conseil is right across.