Harry Surden

The University of Colorado Law School is pleased to announce the appointment of Harry Surden as interim executive director of the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. Surden, a beloved professor of law at Colorado Law, brings extensive experience in the tech industry and legal academy to this role.

Harry Surden, Professor of Law and director of the Silicon Flatirons Center Artificial Intelligence Initiative, delivered the 47th annual Austin W. Scott, Jr. Lecture at the University of Colorado Law School on November 10. The lecture was titled “Artificial Intelligence and Law”.

Harry Surden discusses the future of law in a world dominated by artificial intelligence.

From films to news headlines, artificial intelligence, or AI, is often portrayed as a threat to many modern professions. It's only logical, then, for lawyers to wonder: Should they be worried or enthusiastic? Will AI take over the legal profession as we know it—or will it bring more access to legal services and enable improved lawyering?

Harry Surden and Margot Kaminski, associate professors at the University of Colorado Law School, are leaders in exploring the future of AI and how technologies using computer-based decision making offer major prospects for breakthroughs in the law—and how those decisions are regulated. They are organizing a May 3 conference titled "Explainable Artificial Intelligence: Can We Hold Machines Accountable?"

When people think about artificial intelligence, or AI, they can be quick to jump to the all-too-common sci-fi depiction of a heartlessly rational computer willing to kill people to fulfill its programming. Real AI is lightyears away from that. Today, AI is still pretty far from basic things humans can accomplish, like being able to grasp abstract concepts, according to Harry Surden, a University of Colorado Law School professor and AI expert.