Künstliche Intelligenz im Gerichtssaal – Warum Juristen zögern und wie sich das ändern lässt.
Ob im privaten Alltag, in der Industrie oder in der Medizin – Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) ist längst keine Zukunftsmusik mehr. Doch in einem Bereich scheint der technologische Fortschritt nur zögerlich Einzug zu halten: der juristischen Welt. Warum begegnen Jurist:innen und Fachpersonal der KI mit Skepsis? Und was müsste passieren, damit sich das ändert?
Diese Arbeit geht genau diesen Fragen auf den Grund. Sie bietet einen fundierten Einstieg in das Thema „Künstliche Intelligenz im Recht“, erklärt zentrale Begriffe, beleuchtet Einsatzmöglichkeiten und benennt die Herausforderungen, mit denen Legal Tech – also KI im juristischen Einsatz – konfrontiert ist. Der Blick richtet sich dabei vor allem auf die Menschen hinter der Robe: Was hindert sie daran, digitale Werkzeuge zu nutzen, die Prozesse beschleunigen und den Arbeitsalltag spürbar erleichtern könnten?
Zur Erklärung dieses Widerstands wird das Technology Acceptance Model nach Venkatesh und Bala (2008) herangezogen – ein Modell, das das Nutzerverhalten gegenüber neuer Technologie analysiert und zeigt, wie Wahrnehmung, Nutzen und Erwartungshaltungen Akzeptanz beeinflussen. Doch damit nicht genug: Die Autorin verfolgt einen innovativen Ansatz und kombiniert die Erkenntnisse mit der Nudge-Theorie von Thaler und Sunstein (2008). Deren zentrale These: Menschen lassen sich durch subtile Impulse – sogenannte „Nudges“ – zu gewünschten Entscheidungen lenken, ohne ihnen diese aufzuzwingen.
Im Rahmen einer empirischen Untersuchung wurden Jurist:innen aus verschiedenen Bereichen befragt. Zwei Gruppen wurden dabei unterschiedlich informiert – mit erstaunlichem Ergebnis: Bereits kleine, gezielt platzierte Informationen zur Alltagstauglichkeit von KI konnten kurzfristig die Wahrnehmung positiv beeinflussen. Es zeigte sich ein klarer Zusammenhang zwischen dem wahrgenommenen Nutzen und der Bereitschaft, KI-Systeme zu akzeptieren.
Diese Arbeit ist mehr als nur eine theoretische Abhandlung – sie ist ein praxisrelevanter Impulsgeber für alle, die Digitalisierung im Rechtswesen aktiv gestalten wollen. Sie bietet nicht nur Erklärungsmodelle, sondern konkrete Ansätze, wie durch psychologisches Feingefühl die Tür zur digitalen Transformation auch im konservativ geprägten juristischen Umfeld geöffnet werden kann.
Table of Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Abbreviations
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
- 2.1 Historical Development
- 2.2 Comparing Intelligence Level with Human Intelligence
- 2.3 Computational Learning
- 3. Automation in the Legal Field
- 3.1 Historical Background
- 3.1.1 Legal Tech - A new idea
- 3.1.2 Starting signal for a new era
- 3.2 Why Legal Tech
- 3.2.1 Acceleration
- 3.2.2 Faultless
- 3.2.3 Simplification
- 3.2.4 Access to legal protection
- 3.2.5 Objectivity of decision-making and transparency
- 3.1 Historical Background
- 4. Acceptance theory
- 4.1 Research
- 4.2 Expression
- 4.3 Technology Acceptance Model
- 4.3.1 The development of the Technology Acceptance Model
- 4.3.2 Technology Acceptance Model 3
- 4.4 Psychological Acceptance
- 4.4.1 Interpersonal Acceptance- Rejection Theory
- 4.4.2 Anthropomorphism
- 4.4.3 Dual Process Theory of Cognition
- 4.5 Why Lawyers Are Not Very Accepting of Artificial Intelligence
- 4.5.1 Personality of lawyers
- 5. Nudge Theory
- 5.1 Economic fundamentals
- 5.1.1 The economic model of human behavior
- 5.1.2 Behavioral economics
- 5.2 Libertarian Theory Paternalism
- 5.2.1 Decision architecture
- 5.2.2 Libertarian Paternalism
- 5.3 Nudging
- 5.3.1 Digital Nudging
- 5.3.2 Nudging mechanisms
- 5.3.3 Opportunities and risks of nudging
- 5.1 Economic fundamentals
- 6. Empirical Survey
- 6.1 Methodology
- 6.1.1 Evaluation of various legal court rulings
- 6.1.2 Feedback on possible bias
- 6.1.3 TAM Questionnaire
- 6.2 Results
- 6.2.1 Dummy: Coding
- 6.2.2 Control through TAM control variables
- 6.3 Discussion
- 6.3.1 When artificial intelligence support is not obvious
- 6.3.2 Obviousness
- 6.4 Descriptive Statistics
- 6.4.1 Assessing a court decision with AI support by gender
- 6.4.2 Support for AI by age group
- 6.1 Methodology
- 7. Conclusion
- Appendix
- Bibliography
Objective & Thematic Foci
This thesis aims to investigate whether the perspective of lawyers and legal professionals towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be influenced by targeted incentives. It explores how the strategic demonstration of AI's positive characteristics can overcome initial skepticism within the conservative legal world and promote its acceptance for enhancing efficiency and precision in legal practice.
- Acceptance of Artificial Intelligence in the Legal Field
- The Role of Legal Technology (Legal Tech)
- Application and Development of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
- Influence of Nudge Theory on User Behavior and AI Adoption
- Empirical Analysis of Attitudes and Perceptions among Legal Professionals
- Addressing Skepticism and Ethical Concerns regarding AI in Jurisprudence
Excerpt from the Book
1. Introduction
The legal sector may seem a little antiquated to some people. The thought of the judiciary may conjure up an image of a wrinkled, elderly gentleman in a black and white robe with a judge's gavel in his hand, looking down on the accused from his dark wooden throne. Or it may conjure the image of a student in a dark library, between towers of books and dusty bookshelves, memorizing legal texts in a pale cone of light.
Those images, however, are themselves antiquated and do not reflect court jurisdiction. The law is on the verge of a major transformation. Already celebrated and normalized in many everyday areas, artificial intelligence (AI) is now slowly—but steadily finding its way into the legal system. Artificial intelligence offers innovative solutions for lawyers, judges, and other legal professionals, which can support their day-to-day work. With new technical possibilities, large amounts of data can be analyzed, legal documents reviewed, and the basis for decisions prepared. However, the introduction of such technology is not always met with enthusiasm. The revolution of automation through AI is viewed rather critically in the legal field.
To understand why legal professionals are more likely to accept or reject a technology, acceptance theory offers a valuable approach. It examines which factors determine whether new technologies are seen as useful. To bring legal professionals a little closer to AI, nudge theory offers an interesting approach. Nudge theory is based on the idea that a person's behavior can be influenced by shaping the environment without imposing prohibitions or commands.
The question arises as to whether the targeted demonstration of positive characteristics of AI can overcome the initial skepticism in the conservative legal world. Artificial intelligence can change the efficiency and precision of legal practice to a significant extent, if it is accepted by lawyers.
This paper begins with an overview of AI, followed by a discussion of automation in the legal system and reasons for reservations about AI in the legal field. The theoretical foundations—the acceptance model and the nudge theory—on which the survey for this research is based are then discussed. The survey and the results obtained are then presented in detail.
Chapter Summaries
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the increasing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the legal sector, highlights the existing skepticism among legal professionals, and outlines the thesis's objective to explore factors influencing AI acceptance using acceptance and nudge theories.
2. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: This section defines AI, traces its historical evolution, differentiates between varying levels of intelligence compared to human intelligence, and explains the concept of computational learning including its different forms.
3. Automation in the Legal Field: This chapter delves into the historical background of Legal Tech, exploring its definition and the challenges of its early implementation. It further elaborates on the benefits of Legal Tech, such as accelerating processes, reducing errors, simplifying procedures, enhancing access to legal protection, and improving objectivity and transparency in decision-making.
4. Acceptance theory: This chapter provides an in-depth analysis of factors influencing the acceptance of new technologies, detailing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and its extensions. It also covers psychological acceptance theories and examines specific reasons for lawyers' low acceptance of AI, including their personality traits.
5. Nudge Theory: This chapter explains the economic fundamentals and behavioral economics underlying nudge theory. It describes how nudges can be used to influence decision-making towards greater AI acceptance in the legal sector through subtle environmental design without limiting freedom of choice, also discussing opportunities and risks of nudging.
6. Empirical Survey: This chapter details the methodology of an empirical survey conducted to understand AI acceptance among legal professionals. It presents the results regarding the evaluation of court rulings with and without AI support, analyzing the impact of feedback, TAM control variables, and descriptive statistics related to gender and age.
7. Conclusion: This chapter summarizes the research findings, confirming that perceived usefulness, enjoyment, and job relevance are strong motivators for AI acceptance among legal professionals. It emphasizes the importance of targeted nudges for fostering a better understanding of AI and suggests future research directions, particularly concerning the long-term effects of nudges and ethical considerations like liability.
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence, AI Acceptance, Legal Tech, Jurisprudence, Nudge Theory, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Behavioral Economics, Decision-making, Lawyers, Legal Professionals, Automation, Empirical Survey, User Behavior, Human-Machine Interaction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this work fundamentally about?
This work fundamentally investigates the acceptance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) among lawyers and legal professionals within the legal field, exploring how targeted incentives and awareness of AI's benefits can influence their attitudes and integration of AI systems.
What are the central thematic areas?
The central thematic areas include the introduction to AI and Legal Tech, the Automation of legal processes, Acceptance Theory (specifically the Technology Acceptance Model), Nudge Theory as a mechanism to influence behavior, and an Empirical Survey to gather data on AI acceptance in jurisprudence.
What is the primary goal or research question?
The primary goal is to determine if the perception of lawyers and legal professionals towards AI can be positively influenced by highlighting its beneficial characteristics and whether targeted incentives can overcome initial skepticism in the legal world.
Which scientific method is used?
The research employs a quantitative online survey as its primary scientific method to collect data on the behavior and attitudes of lawyers and legal professionals, followed by statistical analysis, including multiple regression with dummy and control variables.
What is covered in the main part?
The main part of the thesis covers a detailed introduction to AI, its application and historical context in the legal field (Legal Tech), an extensive discussion of Acceptance Theory (TAM), an analysis of Nudge Theory, and the methodology, results, and discussion of the empirical survey conducted.
Which keywords characterize the work?
The work is characterized by keywords such as Artificial Intelligence, AI Acceptance, Legal Tech, Jurisprudence, Nudge Theory, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Behavioral Economics, and Automation.
Why do lawyers show low acceptance of Artificial Intelligence, and how does this study address it?
Lawyers often exhibit low acceptance due to factors like their personality traits (ego drive, autonomy, skepticism), and fears of job displacement or compromised legal integrity. This study addresses this by applying Acceptance Theory and Nudge Theory to explore whether positive demonstrations of AI's benefits can shift these attitudes.
How does "Nudge Theory" specifically apply to increasing AI acceptance in the legal field?
Nudge Theory is applied by designing environments and presenting information in a way that subtly encourages lawyers to view AI more positively, for example, by demonstrating how AI can simplify daily tasks, improve efficiency, or provide clear benefits, without restricting their freedom of choice.
What role does "Technology Affinity" play in the acceptance of AI systems among legal professionals?
Technology affinity significantly influences AI acceptance; individuals with a higher affinity for technology tend to adopt new technologies more readily. Interestingly, the study found that less tech-savvy individuals also rated AI-supported judgments as more appropriate, likely because they perceived AI as making work easier without requiring extensive technical knowledge.
What ethical concerns related to AI in jurisprudence are discussed in the thesis?
The thesis discusses ethical concerns such as liability for incorrect AI decisions, potential for discrimination if algorithms are biased, and the risk of undermining human values like justice and rightness. It also touches upon the challenge of keeping regulations in pace with rapid technological advancements.
- Citation du texte
- Ronja Boldt (Auteur), 2024, Fiat Iustitia. An Investigation of the Acceptance of Artificial Intelligence in Jurisprudence, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1592537
