Keynote speakers

Burkhard Schafer: Beyond Judge Hercules: Generative AI in the justice system

Abstract:

GenAI has been enthusiastically embraced by some in the legal profession. Too enthusiastically, maybe, as the constant flow of stories on “hallucinated” cases getting included in court submissions (and the lawyer responsible often sanctioned when found out) indicates. The responses to these incidents follow a clear pattern: some focus on technological solutions such as symbolic representation of guardrails, and/or better legal and governance responses. What they have in common is that they see “hallucination” as a problem that needs to be, and can be, resolved one way or the other. The talk argues that a different approach may be both fruitful and necessary. In this view, genAI deviates from the historical trajectory of legal tech in a much more radical way, abandoning for the first time the Dworkinian paradigm of “the one right answer” as regulatory ideal of legal reasoning. This allows us to ask some probing questions on the role of creativity in law and legal reasoning, the distinction between single judges and bench decisions, and also ultimately how we should benchmark and certify legal AI.

Bio:

I studied Theory of Science, Logic, Theoretical Linguistics, Philosophy and Law at the Universities of Mainz, Munich, Florence and Lancaster. My main field of interest is the interaction between law, science and computer technology from doctrinal, comparative and legal-theoretical perspectives. This research encompasses both the problems that technology and technological change poses to the law – technology law – and the use of technology in the justice system and the legal services industry – legal informatics.

Both perspectives, technology as a subject of regulation and a tool for regulation, are brought together through a theoretical perspective: How can law, understood as a system, communicate with systems external to it? “Computational legal theory”, in the understanding of my chair, tries to give answers to this question, by exploring the scope and also limits of computational representations of legal thought, and also by an analysis of how technology changes the way law thinks about such issues as responsibility, liability, harm and ultimately personhood and what it means to be human, and living life lawfully.

I'm co-founder and currently Director of the SCRIPT Centre for IT and IP law, where our work covers all aspects of technology regulation, from IP law to data protection to e-commerce to e-forensics. Since its inception, the hope for SCRIPT was to break down disciplinary silos, develop a holistic approach to technology regulation that crosses the lines between legal subdisciplines, and trains lawyers that are technology literate, and technologists with sound understanding of law and ethics. Most recently, this lead to my involvement as Co-I with Creative Informatics, the large R&D project for the Creative Industries.

As a co-founder and co-director of the Joseph Bell Centre for Legal Reasoning and Forensic Statistics, I also work on questions of legal technology and its role in the justice system. Most recently, this meant an interest in computational creativity, emotional AI, and what these concepts mean when applied to law.

I'm involved with a number of organisations that promote the exchange between computer science and law, including the German Association for Informatics, BILETA, and the Evidence and Investigation network of the Scottish Institute for Policing Research. I’m currently member of the expert group of AI4People, chairing their working group on an ethics framework for legal technology, and member of the data ethics group of the Turing Institute. I’m also a member of the legal technologist accreditation panel of the Law Society of Scotland.

Joris Van Ouytsel: Understanding Digital Intimacy: Insights and Emerging Frontiers in Sexting Research

Abstract:

Sexting, or the exchange of self-produced sexually explicit images and videos, has been a focus of academic research for more than 15 years. This keynote traces the evolution of our understanding of sexting. Drawing on research findings, it challenges persistent myths about its prevalence, motivations, and associated risks. Despite substantial progress in our understanding, the field still faces methodological difficulties, including a lack of consensus on definitions, terminology, and the scope of behaviors examined. As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (e.g., deepfakes) transform digital intimacy, this talk examines both historical and new challenges in studying these intimate practices. The keynote concludes with recommendations for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand these behaviors in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

Bio:

Joris Van Ouytsel is an associate professor and the associate director of the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, United States. His research program focuses on the intersection of interpersonal and health communication and includes the following areas: 1) Internet safety and media literacy education, 2) The influence of digital media and artificial intelligence on relationship experiences and expressions of sexuality, 3) Understanding digital risky and violent behaviors in interpersonal relationships (e.g., digital forms of intimate partner violence and cyber dating abuse), and 4) Examining the antecedents and consequences of digital sexual behaviors (e.g., sexting, image-based sexual abuse, and pornography use)

Van Ouytsel has pioneered research on the causes and consequences of adolescents' sexting behavior, and he has co-authored over 25 peer-reviewed journal articles on sexting. He is coeditor of the book “Sexting: Motives and risk in online sexual self-presentation.”. He was listed among the top 2% most cited scholars worldwide for the years 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022, according to data provided by Stanford University professor John P.A. Ioannidis.

Van Ouytsel has received several awards for his research from the National Communication Association (NCA), International Association for Relationship Research (IARR), Arizona State University, and the University of Antwerp. He currently serves as an associate editor for Personal Relationships and Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace.