Author archives

Kris Turner began working at the Law School Library in January 2012 as a Circulation Assistant and Daytime Supervisor and has since worked as the Reference and Technology Services Librarian and the Head of Reference before becoming the Associate Director of Public Services in 2018. Kris is responsible for managing the reference and access services departments and overseeing outreach, instruction, and research support that the Law Library offers to faculty, law students, and legal researchers. Kris also works with emerging technology, having taught numerous sessions on GenAI tools and free and low-cost resources for legal and information professionals. Kris teaches Legal Technology and Artificial Intelligence in Law Practice each fall and co-teaches Advanced Legal Research each spring. Kris has served as the president of the Wisconsin Library Association, the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin, and on various committees and sections of the American Association of Law Librarians. He has written many articles on topics ranging from space law to professionalism. He previously worked at Madison Public Library and at the Forest Products Laboratory Library. Before entering librarianship, he worked in a busy bankruptcy and personal injury law firm in downtown Chicago and as a teacher in Evanston, Illinois and Novi, Michigan. J.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2020 Masters, Library Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2012 Secondary Teaching Certification, University of Michigan 2006 B.A., History and Political Science, University of Michigan, 2006

AI Under the Hood

Knowing the difference between a general AI tool and one trained on specific sources can mean the difference between getting an accurate answer and becoming quickly frustrated with outcomes that either don’t answer the question thoroughly or answer the question in a confused mixture of fact and fiction. While not always clear, the data that lies behind the GenAI tool is just as important to consider as the user interface or the cost. Without trustworthy or relevant underlying information, the resulting AI-generated output will be less helpful or less trusted and result in inefficiencies as lawyers and staff work to fill the gaps in the GenAI’s response. Considering these factors, Kristopher Turner’s article identifies how and why a retrieval augmented generation (RAG) can give focused and highly specific answers related to one area that someone needs to quickly understand.

Subjects: AI, KM, Legal Education, Legal Profession, Legal Research, Legal Technology, Search Engines