By combining machine reasoning, data analysis and legal expertise, computer scientists from the University of Luxembourg have developed a solution which enables companies to automate essential tasks and concentrate their effort on decision-making. They are now looking for legal partners to create the right product for the customers’ needs.
LegAI App
Postdoctoral researcher within the Department of Computer Science at the University of Luxembourg, Tomer Libal has been working in the field of automated deduction and especially on applications to law. He has recently created the application LegAI to facilitate the data protection risk assessment process.
“For instance, if your company has just purchased a new HR system, or has decided to install surveillance cameras, and you want to ensure being compliant with the law, you look for the different regulations and guidelines but it is often a difficult and very abstract language that requires a legal expert who knows the big picture. Our tool is asking you different questions which lead you towards the answer, so you can make the decision and take the responsibility. The idea is to do all the bureaucracy and leave you with the decision process”, explains Tomer Libal.
Awards and conference presentations
The solution has already been presented during different conferences and the paper “NAI: towards Towards Transparent and Usable Semi-Automated Legal Analysis” written by researchers Alexander Steen and Tomer Libal from the University of Luxembourg, won the best paper award at the Internationales Rechtsinformatik Symposion conference in 2020.
The concept was also presented during the Computational Law Festival which took place in June 2021.
From proof of concept…to spin-off
To go beyond the creation of the application, Tomer Libal has submitted a Proof-of-Concept project with the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR). “I want to develop a product for companies which could be integrated in their current tools and give them a much better legal understanding. In addition, it could save time and thus money, as well as improve the process. At this stage, I need to understand their needs to build the suitable product. For that, I need use cases”, comments Tomer. He plans to present his first prototype in 2022 and develop his own company in 2023.