The legal industry is experiencing unprecedented change, with regulatory compliance becoming a significant challenge for businesses, governments, and individuals alike. As laws grow in number and complexity, the pressure to navigate these demands has led to the emergence of Norm Engineering (NE) — a transformative approach that could revolutionize how we interact with regulations.
In this first article of a series, Be Informed explores this legal industry trend and its potential, featuring insights from Lydia Meijer, a Senior Investigator at TNO, former professor at the University of Amsterdam, and a leading expert in AI-driven norm engineering. We’ll examine how NE addresses regulatory challenges and how Generative AI enhances its scope.
What is norm engineering?
NE refers to the use of technology to interpret, apply, and enforce norms and regulations. Unlike traditional processes that rely on human expertise, NE automates compliance, translating legal requirements into programmable frameworks. This transformative approach is at the forefront of legal industry trends, minimizing human error, reducing costs, and enhancing efficiency.
For instance, an NE system could verify export compliance by automating checks for restricted goods, trade sanctions, and documentation accuracy, ensuring smooth international trade operations. Lydia Meijer explains:
“Norm engineering is the technical ability to have computer support in interpreting and dealing with norms. Whether ensuring a company meets export requirements or helping someone determine eligibility for social benefits, NE makes regulatory processes more efficient and accessible.”
At its core, NE relies on normative control — ensuring automated decisions align with predefined rules. Meijer highlights its importance:
“We need systems that handle decisions impacting rights, like subsidy approvals. If these decisions are automated, they must be accurate, fair, and consistent.”
Why norm engineering matters?
As one of the emerging legal industry trends, NE addresses the disparity between the exponential growth of regulations and the human capacity to process them. Automated systems lower the cost of compliance, making it accessible to individuals and businesses that might otherwise struggle with complex policies.
“Human capability to deal with laws stays constant — or decreases — as regulations multiply,” Meijer observes. “NE will be the answer.”
Generative AI: transforming NE
While the concept of NE isn’t new, recent advancements in Generative AI have supercharged its potential. Generative AI — technology that creates new content from input — makes translating complex legal frameworks into computable language more scalable than ever before. These AI innovations are reshaping legal industry trends by enabling faster, more accurate regulatory compliance.
Meijer shares a practical example:
“Refrigerators today have chips, making their export subject to numerous laws, especially in the current climate of increased regulation on technology. AI can help determine compliance more efficiently.”
Moreover, AI enables explainable compliance — automating regulatory decisions while offering transparent reasoning. Meijer stresses this as critical:
“It needs to be explainable, and you need to be able to go to a judge if you don’t agree.”
The future of legal automation
The potential of NE extends beyond compliance. In scenarios like environmental approvals or multi-agency permits, NE can integrate processes into a single workflow, eliminating duplication and delays. AI-powered systems sequence requirements across agencies, simplifying tasks for applicants while ensuring compliance. These advancements position NE at the forefront of legal industry trends in automation. “Norm engineering, paired with AI, can now cover more complex scenarios involving multiple jurisdictions and layers of regulation,” says Meijer. “This marks a significant shift from earlier, narrower applications.” NE also ensures consistency in regulatory enforcement — a critical need in sectors like finance, healthcare, and government. By providing uniform interpretations of laws, NE reduces discrepancies that arise when regulations are implemented differently. “If two developers interpret a law differently, systems may treat people inconsistently. NE ensures fairness, accuracy, and consistency,” Meijer points out.Balancing AI, law, and ethics
One challenge NE must address is maintaining ethical oversight in automated processes. Proportionality — ensuring decisions are appropriate in scale and effect — is vital, particularly in urgent situations. Meijer gives an example of AI-powered normative control in emergencies, like cutting telecommunications in disaster zones: “Decisions must be faster than human response times but still legally sound and fair.” Human oversight remains essential, especially for decisions with significant ethical implications. AI should act as a tool to enhance human decision-making — not replace it. “We must ensure AI behaves in ways humans prefer,” Meijer asserts.Conclusion: AI-enabled NE and the legal industry
Among today’s most significant legal industry trends, NE stands out as a solution to the growing complexities of regulatory compliance. By automating processes, enhancing explainability, and maintaining ethical oversight, NE offers a pathway to a more efficient and equitable legal system. Generative AI takes this vision further, scaling NE to tackle multi-jurisdictional regulations and complex legal scenarios. As Lydia Meijer aptly puts it: “The opportunity is here; we just need to grab it.”
