This event is organized by the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society.
Note: Event details may change. Please refer to the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society’s events page for the most current information.
Our weekly SRI Seminar Series welcomes Ryan Calo, the Lane Powell and D. Wayne Gittinger Professor of Law at the University of Washington. A leading scholar at the intersection of law and technology, Calo has co-founded two interdisciplinary research institutions dedicated to technology policy and the study of misinformation, and he has testified before the U.S. Senate on technology issues four times.
In this talk, Calo will explore how law can navigate the unique challenges posed by technology—its capacity to obscure responsibility, slow regulation, and threaten rights and values. Drawing on his recently-published book, Law and Technology: A Methodical Approach (2025), Calo will outline a clear framework for legal analysis of physical and digital systems, aiming to formalize the emerging field of law and technology and challenge these systems to meet society’s demands.
Moderator: Anna Su, Faculty of Law
Location: Online
Talk title:
“Law and technology: A methodical approach”
Abstract:
Technology is difficult to study, let alone regulate. While law is uniquely positioned to channel technology toward human flourishing, technology poses special challenges to law and governance, obscuring human will and responsibility, stalling regulatory action, and putting rights and values into constant defense. The consequences can be dire. The United States spent three decades without a plan for nuclear waste disposal and still lacks comprehensive privacy laws many years into the information revolution. Law and technology as a field, meanwhile, has yet to cohere.
In light of these challenges, Law and Technology: A Methodical Approach offers a defensible and consistent approach to the legal analysis of technology, one capable of navigating technology’s capacity to confuse and confound. Ryan Calo puts forward a step-by-step methodology for thinking about and ultimately challenging technology to meet society's demands. The book demonstrates that, no less than health law or law and economics, law and technology deserves a field of its own. To this end, it helps formalize legal analysis of physical and digital artifacts and systems, sowing the seeds for the concept of law and technology itself.
Suggested reading:
Ryan Calo, Law and Technology: A Methodical Approach. Oxford University Press, 2025.
About Ryan Calo
Ryan Calo is Lane Powell and D. Wayne Gittinger Professor of Law at the University of Washington's School of Law, having worked at the intersection of law and technology for over a decade. Calo is the co-founder of two interdisciplinary research institutions at the University focusing on technology policy and the study of misinformation, and chaired a university-wide, President and Provost task force on technology and society. He also co-founded the leading North American conference on robotics and artificial intelligence law and has testified before the United States Senate about technology four times.
About the SRI Seminar Series
The SRI Seminar Series brings together the Schwartz Reisman community and beyond for a robust exchange of ideas that advance scholarship at the intersection of technology and society. Seminars are led by a leading or emerging scholar and feature extensive discussion.
Each week, a featured speaker will present for 45 minutes, followed by an open discussion. Registered attendees will be emailed a Zoom link before the event begins. The event will be recorded and posted online.