Chunmo Zheng

Chunmo Zheng, Saika Wong, Xing Su et al.

An effective and efficient review of construction contracts is essential for minimizing construction projects losses, but current methods are time-consuming and error-prone. Studies using methods based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) exist, but their scope is often limited to text classification or segmented label prediction. This paper investigates whether integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) and Knowledge Graphs (KGs) can enhance the accuracy and interpretability of automated contract risk identification. A tuning-free approach is proposed that integrates LLMs with a Nested Contract Knowledge Graph (NCKG) using a Graph Retrieval-Augmented Generation (GraphRAG) framework for contract knowledge retrieval and reasoning. Tested on international EPC contracts, the method achieves more accurate risk evaluation and interpretable risk summaries than baseline models. These findings demonstrate the potential of combining LLMs and KGs for reliable reasoning in tasks that are knowledge-intensive and specialized, such as contract review.

Saika Wong, Chunmo Zheng, Xing Su et al.

Contract review is an essential step in construction projects to prevent potential losses. However, the current methods for reviewing construction contracts lack effectiveness and reliability, leading to time-consuming and error-prone processes. While large language models (LLMs) have shown promise in revolutionizing natural language processing (NLP) tasks, they struggle with domain-specific knowledge and addressing specialized issues. This paper presents a novel approach that leverages LLMs with construction contract knowledge to emulate the process of contract review by human experts. Our tuning-free approach incorporates construction contract domain knowledge to enhance language models for identifying construction contract risks. The use of a natural language when building the domain knowledge base facilitates practical implementation. We evaluated our method on real construction contracts and achieved solid performance. Additionally, we investigated how large language models employ logical thinking during the task and provide insights and recommendations for future research.

Chao Li, Xing Su, Chao Fan et al.

While climate-induced population migration has received rising attention, the role played by human climate endeavors remains underexplored. Here, we combine machine learning with attribution mapping to analyze the impacts of 4,713 heat-related policies (HPs) on 11,177 migration flows between U.S. counties. We find that heat adaptation policies (APs) and heat mitigation policies (MPs) have significant and opposing impacts on internal migration: APs reduce out-migration, while MPs increase it. These policies have heterogeneous effects on migration among policy types. Behavioral and cultural MPs at origins lead to a 0.24%-0.68% (95% confidence interval) increase in annual outflows per policy, whereas behavioral and cultural APs at destinations elevate outflows of origins by 0.11%-1.55% (95% confidence interval). Migration patterns are nonlinearly moderated by income, ageing, education, and racial diversity of both origin and destination counties. Ageing rates have the most noticeable U-shaped relationship in shaping migration responses to behavioral and cultural MPs at origins, and inverted U-shapes for institutional MPs at origins and nature-based MPs at destinations. These findings offer critical insights for policymakers on how HPs influence migration as global warming and policy interventions persist.