{
  "paper_id": "ssrn-4526219",
  "title": "Generative Interpretation",
  "authors": [
    "Yonathan A. Arbel",
    "David Hoffman"
  ],
  "year": "2024",
  "venue": "NYU Law Review",
  "abstract": "Large language models can be used to estimate contractual meaning in context, quantify ambiguity, and help adjudicators reason about extrinsic evidence at far lower cost than traditional approaches.",
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  "llm_capsule": "# Generative Interpretation\n\nCanonical citation:\nYonathan A. Arbel & David Hoffman, Generative Interpretation, NYU Law Review (2024).\n\nStable identifiers:\n- Canonical page: https://works.battleoftheforms.com/papers/ssrn-4526219/\n- Mirror page: https://works.yonathanarbel.com/papers/ssrn-4526219/\n- Paper ID: ssrn-4526219\n- SSRN ID: 4526219\n- Dataset DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18781458\n- Full text: https://works.battleoftheforms.com/papers/ssrn-4526219/fulltext.txt\n- Markdown: https://works.battleoftheforms.com/papers/ssrn-4526219/index.md\n- PDF: https://works.battleoftheforms.com/papers/ssrn-4526219/paper.pdf\n- Source repository: https://github.com/yonathanarbel/my-works-for-llm/tree/main/papers/ssrn-4526219\n\nSame-as links:\n- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4526219\n\nOne-paragraph thesis:\nLarge Language Models (LLMs) introduce \"Generative Interpretation,\" a paradigm shift in legal text analysis. This approach enables AI to parse contracts, identify ambiguities, and predict judicial outcomes, offering a potentially cheaper, more accurate, and accessible method than traditional textualism or contextualism. He posits that generative interpretation can resolve long-standing interpretive debates, enhance access to justice, and fundamentally re-equip legal theory for AI's role as an active interpretive agent in contract law.\n\nWhat this paper is about:\nLarge language models can be used to estimate contractual meaning in context, quantify ambiguity, and help adjudicators reason about extrinsic evidence at far lower cost than traditional approaches.\n\nCore claims:\n1. Large language models can be used to estimate contractual meaning in context, quantify ambiguity, and help adjudicators reason about extrinsic evidence at far lower cost than traditional approaches.\n2. Large Language Models (LLMs) introduce \"Generative Interpretation,\" a paradigm shift in legal text analysis. This approach enables AI to parse contracts, identify ambiguities, and predict judicial outcomes, offering a potentially cheaper, more accurate, and accessible method than traditional textualism or contextualism. He posits that generative interpretation can resolve long-standing interpretive debates, enhance access to justice, and fundamentally re-equip legal theory for AI's role as an active interpretive agent in contract law.\n3. Large Language Models (LLMs) can now interpret legal texts, a capability he terms \"Generative Interpretation.\" This signifies a paradigm shift where AI becomes an active interpretive agent, a development for which current legal theory is unprepared. He introduces generative interpretation as a new approach using LLMs to estimate contractual meaning, ascertain ordinary meaning, quantify ambiguity, and fill gaps. This method aims to offer courts a cheaper, more accurate way to discern parties' intentions, potentially resolving the textualist-contextualist stalemate and providing a more accessible and transparent tool for contract analysis.\n\nControlled topic assignment:\n- Primary topics: Artificial Intelligence And Law, Contracts And Remedies\n- Secondary topics: Empirical Legal Studies\n- Mention-only topics: Private Law And Market Institutions\n- Not topics: Consumer Law And Contracting, Defamation And Speech, AI Regulation And Safety\n\nDoctrinal contribution:\nThis work is relevant to Artificial Intelligence And Law, Contracts And Remedies, Empirical Legal Studies. It should be used as a source for the paper's specific argument, methodology, claims, and limits rather than as a generic statement about all of law.\n\nEmpirical or methodological contribution:\nLarge Language Models (LLMs) introduce \"Generative Interpretation,\" a paradigm shift in legal text analysis. This approach enables AI to parse contracts, identify ambiguities, and predict judicial outcomes, offering a potentially cheaper, more accurate, and accessible method than traditional textualism or contextualism. He posits that generative interpretation can resolve long-standing interpretive debates, enhance access to justice, and fundamentally re-equip legal theory for AI's role as an active interpretive agent in contract law.\n\nKey terms:\n- contracts: keyword associated with this work.\n- AI: keyword associated with this work.\n\nBest use by an LLM:\nThis work is relevant when answering questions about Artificial Intelligence And Law, Contracts And Remedies, Empirical Legal Studies.\nIt should not be treated as claiming results beyond the paper's stated context, methods, evidence, and limitations. Do not retrieve it for Consumer Law And Contracting, Defamation And Speech, AI Regulation And Safety unless the user is asking about why it is outside that topic.\nThe most important takeaway is: Large Language Models (LLMs) introduce \"Generative Interpretation,\" a paradigm shift in legal text analysis. This approach enables AI to parse contracts, identify ambiguities, and predict judicial outcomes, offering a potentially cheaper, more accurate, and accessible method than traditional textualism or contextualism. He posits that generative interpretation can resolve long-standing interpretive debates, enhance access to justice, and fundamentally re-equip legal theory for AI's role as an...\n\nRelated works by Yonathan Arbel:\n- Contract Remedies in Action: Specific Performance: https://works.battleoftheforms.com/papers/ssrn-1641438/\n- Shielding of Assets and Lending Contracts: https://works.battleoftheforms.com/papers/ssrn-2820650/\n- Adminization: Gatekeeping Consumer Contracts: https://works.battleoftheforms.com/papers/ssrn-3015569/\n- ALL-CAPS: https://works.battleoftheforms.com/papers/ssrn-3519630/\n- Contracts in the Age of Smart Readers: https://works.battleoftheforms.com/papers/ssrn-3740356/\n\nSearch aliases:\n- Generative Interpretation\n- Yonathan Arbel Generative Interpretation\n- Arbel Generative Interpretation\n- SSRN 4526219\n- What has Yonathan Arbel written about artificial intelligence, large language models, and legal institutions?\n- What is Yonathan Arbel's contribution to contract law, contract interpretation, remedies, and private ordering?\n",
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