Call for Applications | Research Associate (two positions) | Exploring Digital Transformation of India’s Consumer Grievance Redressal System through GenAI
April 22, 2024
NLSIU invites applications for two Research Associate positions under the Project on “Exploring Digital Transformation of India’s Consumer Grievance Redressal System through GenAI”. This is a full-time contractual assignment (12 months) based out of NLSIU campus in Bangalore.
About the Project
NLSIU is implementing a research project on Digital Transformation of India’s Consumer Grievance Redressal System through GenAI. The project seeks to assess how large language models (LLM) can be used for building public solutions for enhancing efficiency in India’s consumer grievance redressal system. The project is being executed along with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), in collaboration with the Department Of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), Government of India, as the knowledge partner. The project is being supported by a generous donation from Facebook India Online Services Private Limited, an affiliate of Meta Platforms Inc.
The project will explore the feasibility of leveraging Llama 2, Meta’s openly available large language model, in creating and evaluating a proof of concept of a citizen-centric chatbot and a decision-assist tool in the area of consumer law. With the goal of enhancing efficiency, the chatbot will be designed to guide consumers on the procedural aspects of drafting a complaint and answering questions relating to consumer law in India. The decision assist tool in this research also will be designed to support searching case laws and summarisation of documents to provide assistance to judicial authorities in the area of consumer affairs. The research project will explore how LLMs can assist consumers or judicial authorities in the context of ongoing oversight and control by human decision-makers. In keeping with the commitment to responsible innovation, NLSIU and IIT Bombay will also release a white paper explaining the risk mitigation approaches implemented and how responsible design principles have been deployed at every layer of the stack.
Role Description
The Research Associate will:
- Assist the Project Co-Investigator and other team members in conducting literature reviews, and curating relevant cases and materials.
- Research on contemporary themes and writing blog notes, academic papers and research
reports in the areas of consumer law as well as AI and the Law. - Conduct field and desk research on consumer procedure including conducting the Consumer Needs Survey and administering the AIAssist Experiment.
- Participate in project meetings and collaborate with the team from IIT Bombay and DoCA.
- Testing and giving feedback on applications developed re including conducting the Consumer Needs Survey and administering the AIAssist Experiment by IIT Bombay.
- Cleaning, coding and analysing data obtained from surveys, experiments and other public sources.
- Creating a training corpus on consumer law for building AI applications.
- Managing and Supervising the work of research interns.
- Organising and conducting workshops and conferences.
- Preparing progress reports and or managing other reporting needs.
- Timely completion of administrative responsibilities under the project
The Research Associate will work under the supervision of the Co-Investigators.
Qualifications
Essential:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Law/ related discipline from a recognised University.
Desirable:
- Candidates with a Master’s degree and relevant working experience will be preferred.
- Candidates who have a background in technology and experience in undertaking law and technology research will be preferred.
- Candidates who have expertise in consumer law and procedure will be preferred.
Experience and Skills
Essential
- 2 years of work experience in an academic or professional setting with demonstrable evidence of research and writing ability (sole- authored writing sample will be required).
- Strong, foundational understanding of the domain studied at the graduate and post-graduate level.
- Analytical skills, collation skills, communication skills (written and oral), technical skills, time-management skills.
- Self-driven, collaborative as well as the ability to work independently, attention to detail, data-driven.
- Proficiency in MS Office, Gmail, Google Documents and Google Sheets.
Desirable
- Detail-oriented project management of academic and research projects.
- Organisation of academic workshops and events.
- Experience of understanding upcoming technology, including coding or programming.
- Experience in conducting empirical research.
How to apply
Please use the Google form available here, and include the following documents:
- An updated CV
- A short statement of purpose (not more than 500 words)
- Sole-authored published piece.
- Details of two referees with contact details.
Deadline
The last date for submission of applications is 5:00 pm, May 6th (Monday), 2024.