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Legal AI: Design and Development (LAWS90286)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable (login required)(opens in new window)
Contact information
September
Lecturer
Jack Stoneman (Coordinator)
Email: law-masters@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: 13 MELB (13 6352), International: +(61 3) 9035 5511
Website: law.unimelb.edu.au
Overview
Availability(Quotas apply) | September |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
Generative AI has rapidly emerged across society, with much speculation about the opportunities and threats it poses.
As a technology that fundamentally accepts natural language instruction, has an ability to reason on that language, and provides natural language output, there are parallels with the work performed by legal practitioners— who receive client instructions, apply legal expertise with the intent to achieve some outcome, and ordinarily provide a written output in the form of a contract, an advice or a submission.
Advancements in tools that abstract away a lot of the underlying complexity mean that you no longer need to be a "software developer" to develop powerful, practical programs. Increasingly the focus is on having the domain expertise and imagination, rather than the technical skill.
To best make use of the current capabilities of this technology, and to form a view on where it might lead, there is no substitute for lifting the hood and using the core components to build practical outputs. This provides a depth of understanding that cannot be obtained by theoretical study alone.
Society will require legal practitioners who are able to understand, build, and critique the machinations of programs that use artificial intelligence (in particular, Generative AI). Accordingly, this timely and hands-on subject provides a much-needed set of tools for those engaged with law and technology: it steps through how to build Generative AI based programs for legal solutions, giving students an opportunity to put that learning into practice and become leaders in AI within their chosen career area.
Principal topics will include:
Overview of Large Language Models
o What is an LLM? How does it work?
o How can we effectively prompt engineer LLMs?
Programmatic Access to Large Language Models
o How do software programs interact with LLMs?
o How can we make LLM functionality accessible to legal users?
Information Architecture
o How do LLMs interact with data?
o What is legal data and how can it be managed?
Developing Applications
o How do users interact with LLMs – data in and out?
o How do we build applications that use LLMs?
o How can we understand and design systems that do legal work?
Measuring and Improving Performance
o What concerns should we be aware of in using LLMs?
o How can we see if an LLM is working well?
o How might LLM performance improve in the future
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Explain the fundamental mechanisms by which a Language Model (LLM) stores information, reasons, and generates content.
- Develop a basic web-based interface that enables users to effectively interact with an LLM-based application to solve legal problems.
- Specify and implement the necessary code logic for an LLM to execute legal tasks and integrate it with a web-based user interface.
- Analyse legal documents and sources as data structures from the perspective of an LLM and demonstrate proficiency in making this data accessible for an LLM.
- Analyse the performance of an LLM-based application in solving legal problems, and enhance its performance through prompt engineering and context augmentation resulting in improved outcomes and usability.
- Hypothesise the ways in which LLM-based technology might affect the legal industry in the short-, medium- and long-term.
Generic skills
- Ability to investigate, evaluate, synthesise and apply knowledge in LLMbased AI to legal scenarios, with creativity and initiative.
- Capacity to manage competing demands on time and ability to work with a high level of autonomy and accountability.
- Capacity to value and participate in teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Capacity to engage with issues in contemporary society.
- Advanced working skills in the design, deployment and evaluation of new technology with a focus on AI applications.
- Capacity for self-directed learning, organisation and time management.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Basic familiarity with Python (the programming language). However, students are not expected to come to the subject equipped with extensive understanding: around 5 to 10 hours pre-work to learn basic concepts would be sufficient. Instructions for how to undertake this work are provided for students in LMS Canvas.
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Build and deliver a single-document Q&A chatbot.
| Due Wednesday 16 November 2024. | 20% |
Build and deliver a legal workflow solution.
| Due Wednesday 27 November 2024. | 50% |
Legal workflow solution review: Write a report critiquing the performance of solution created in Assessment item 2, suggesting potential enhancements
| Due Wednesday 27 November 2024. | 30% |
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- September
Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours This subject runs over five days as follows: Monday 30 September to Wednesday 2 October and Thursday 17 October to Friday 18 October. Total time commitment 150 hours Pre teaching start date 2 September 2024 Pre teaching requirements Please refer to the Reading Guide on the LMS subject page for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences. Teaching period 30 September 2024 to 18 October 2024 Last self-enrol date 6 September 2024 Census date 4 October 2024 Last date to withdraw without fail 25 October 2024 Assessment period ends 27 November 2024 September contact information
Lecturer
Jack Stoneman (Coordinator)
Email: law-masters@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: 13 MELB (13 6352), International: +(61 3) 9035 5511
Website: law.unimelb.edu.au
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students.
Enrolment is on a 'first in' basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of waitlisted places in subjects will be given as follows:
- To currently enrolled Graduate Diploma and Masters students with a satisfactory record in their degree
- To other students enrolling on a single subject basis, eg Community Access Program (CAP) students, cross-institutional study and cross-faculty study.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Melbourne Law School may reserve places in a subject for incoming international cohorts or where a subject is core to a specialisation with limited alternate options.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Specialist materials will be made available via the LMS in the pre-teaching period.
- Subject notes
This subject will favor students who have an interest in methodical, systems-driven thinking. Some examples include: having experience or a strong interest in technical, rules-based disciplines (like STEM and languages); or thinking through legal problems using if-then frameworks and flowcharts.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Laws Course Graduate Diploma in Laws Course Specialist Certificate in Law (Digital Law and Technological Innovation) - Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If required, please contact law-masters@unimelb.edu.au for subject coordinator approval.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 31 January 2024