Ethical and preventive legal technology

Abstract

Preventive Legal Technology (PLT) is a new field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) investigating the intelligent prevention of disputes. The concept integrates the theories of preventive law and legal technology. Our goal is to give ethics a place in the new technology. By explaining the decisions of PLT, we aim to achieve a higher degree of trustworthiness because explicit explanations are expected to improve the level of transparency and accountability. Trustworthiness is an urgent topic in the discussion on doing AI research ethically and accounting for the regulations. For this purpose, we examine the limitations of rule-based explainability for PLT. Hence, our Problem Statement reads: to what extent is it possible to develop an explainable and trustworthy Preventive Legal Technology? After an insightful literature review, we focus on case studies with applications. The results describe (1) the effectivity of PLT and (2) its responsibility. The discussion is challenging and multivariate, investigating deeply the relevance of PLT for LegalTech applications in light of the development of the AI Act (currently still in its final phase of process) and the work of the High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) on AI. On the ethical side, explaining AI decisions for small PLT domains is clearly possible, with direct effects on trustworthiness due to increased transparency and accountability.