Law Professor Builds AI Coach for Round-the-Clock Student Support
Professor Jack Graves has developed an artificial intelligence bot that helps law students master course material 24/7. The tool uses course-specific materials to explain legal concepts and quiz students on their application, then provides immediate feedback.
Graves deployed the coach in his evidence and contracts courses at Syracuse University's College of Law. He built it using OpenAI's custom GPT feature, which lets him tailor the bot narrowly to his specific courses rather than relying on a generic large language model.
How the Coach Works
The bot relies on a technique called Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG). Graves uploaded his course textbooks and key instructional materials into the bot's knowledge base. When students ask questions, the bot draws first from these materials rather than from the broader internet.
"The LLMs pick up a good deal of erroneous information from unreliable sources, and they miss a lot of really good information that's behind firewalls," Graves said. "The bot has been instructed to respond to students by walking them through in a Socratic-style dialog much as I might in class or office hours."
This approach addresses a core problem with generic AI tools: they indiscriminately pull from all available online information, much of it inaccurate. By restricting the bot to curated course materials, Graves dramatically reduced the potential for errors.
The bot operates within a private space for each student. Students access it through a dedicated course link, encouraging them to ask questions they might otherwise hesitate to raise. They can also share conversations with Graves for further review, which helps him catch and fix any coach responses that fall short.
Supplementing, Not Replacing, Teaching
Graves emphasized that the coach supplements traditional teaching, not replaces it. Students still attend class and prepare assigned readings.
"The teacher's role is not being outsourced to the coach-it is being supplemented in new ways for which narrowly tailored AI is uniquely suited," Graves said.
What the coach does excel at is providing unlimited practice opportunities. Students can apply course material in multiple assessment formats and receive instant feedback-a proven effective learning tool for law students.
During two semesters of use, Graves identified one clear error from the coach and several responses he could improve. Most problems, he said, stemmed from imperfect student prompts rather than the bot itself.
Global Reach
Graves teaches exclusively in the College of Law's JD interactive hybrid program, serving students around the world. The 24/7 availability of his coaches addresses a practical need: students in different time zones can access help whenever they study.
"This has allowed me to be more efficient and effective with my time while giving our global students a uniquely tailored experience that will help them master course material, while being available at any time that is convenient to them," Graves said.
The approach required collaboration with the textbook publisher. Graves co-authored his contracts textbook, but West Academic holds the copyright. He worked with the publisher to ensure the bot's use of copyrighted materials complied with licensing agreements.
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