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AF-XRAY: Visual Explanation and Resolution of Ambiguity in Legal Argumentation Frameworks

  • Yilin Xia
    ,
  • Heng Zheng
    ,
  • ,
  • Bertram Ludäscher(corresponding author)
*Corresponding author for this work
  • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    ,
  • University of Kentucky
    ,
Research Output:
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
Conference contribution

Open access

Abstract

Argumentation frameworks (AFs) provide formal approaches for legal reasoning, but identifying sources of ambiguity and explaining argument acceptance remains challenging for non-experts. We present AF-XRAY, an open-source toolkit for exploring, analyzing, and visualizing abstract AFs in legal reasoning. AF-XRAY introduces: (i) layered visualizations based on game-theoretic argument length revealing well-founded derivation structures; (ii) classification of attack edges by semantic roles (primary, secondary, blunders); (iii) overlay visualizations of alternative 2-valued solutions on ambiguous 3-valued grounded semantics; and (iv) identification of critical attack sets whose suspension resolves undecided arguments. Through systematic generation of critical attack sets, AF-XRAY transforms ambiguous scenarios into grounded solutions, enabling users to pinpoint specific causes of ambiguity and explore alternative resolutions. We use real-world legal cases (e.g., Wild Animals as modeled by Bench-Capon) to show that our tool supports teleological legal reasoning by revealing how different assumptions lead to different justified conclusions.

Bibliographic Information

Output type

Research Output:
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
Conference contribution

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 495-497 (3 pages)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 13/01/2026

Publication status

Published - 13/01/2026

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery, Inc

Publication series

  • Publication series name: 20th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law, ICAIL 2025 - Proceedings of the Conference

ISBN (Electronic)

9798400719394

Publication IDs

  • Scopus: 105028625522

Host publication title

20th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law, ICAIL 2025 - Proceedings of the Conference

Host publication editors

  • Juliano Maranhao