“AI is something that amplifies and expands capabilities that people already have,” says Timothy Duncan, a LAW lecturer and director of the new BU LAW AI Program.

University News

New AI Program Keeps BU School of Law Students on the Cutting Edge

Initiative led by LAW’s Timothy Duncan is designed to provide the curriculum, training, and tools necessary for students to learn how to use artificial intelligence skillfully now and in the future

Like any tool, artificial intelligence is as good—as useful, as creative, as efficient—as the person using it. For those in the legal profession, whose jobs require carefully sifting and synthesizing thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of pages of documents, AI could be a game changer. The Boston University School of Law is training the next generation of lawyers to be leaders in this change. 

LAW’s new AI Program is designed to provide the curriculum, training, and tools necessary for students to learn how to use artificial intelligence skillfully and wisely, preparing them for the AI-enabled legal practice of the future. Timothy Duncan, a LAW lecturer whose teaching includes the intersection of law, technology, and regulation, with a focus on artificial intelligence, has been appointed the program’s inaugural director.

“AI is something that amplifies and expands capabilities that people already have,” Duncan says. “A good metaphor for me is electric bikes: the harder you pedal, the more it helps you. AI is an extension of yourself in many ways—including, which I think most people overlook, creativity. Lawyers need to be creative in terms of looking at fact patterns and issues and coming up with approaches to litigation. So I think that AI can be very helpful in terms of thinking about things, creating ideas, and then also evaluating and critiquing different things that you might come up with.”

The AI program is still in its early stages, he says, but plans include bringing artificial intelligence directly into the classroom to offer students practical training and provide faculty with new AI-related teaching and research resources. 

“With Tim’s leadership, BU LAW is positioned to be at the forefront of legal education in the age of AI,” says Angela Onwuachi-Willig, dean of LAW and Ryan Roth Gallo Professor of Law. “This program reflects our commitment to equipping our students not just with knowledge of the law, but also with the tools and judgment to practice it in a world transformed by technology.”

Already the School of Law is hosting a series of monthly faculty training and information sessions, and in October the school launched a partnership with Harvey, a leading provider of domain-specific generative artificial intelligence designed for legal and professional services. BU is one of 18 schools—including the University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, NYU, University of Michigan, Stanford, and Vanderbilt, among others—to partner with Harvey to bring genAI tools directly to law students and faculty.

“People talk about AI replacing lawyers, or replacing a good deal of their work, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Duncan says. “I do think lawyers will not be able to get a job in five years unless they’re proficient at using different AI tools, because AI stands to make lawyers much more productive and efficient. I tell my students that there’s a great opportunity right now to get in on the ground floor. We’re seeing this with students who graduated last year and have some proficiency and understanding in AI—they’re getting appointed to AI committees at their companies.”

He sees AI as merely the latest in a line of technology that has changed the legal profession throughout his career, which has included a tenure as head of technology at the former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under President Barack Obama, as well as other leadership and advisory roles across academia, government, and the legal industry. 

“My entire career, I’ve been interested in technology. And my career really spans that period of time when technology changed the practice of law and continues to change the practice of law,” Duncan says. “Think about personal computers and the internet—I don’t think technology really impacted the practice of law for the 150 years before them, and now we’re in another period of big change with AI. It’s exciting, and it’s interesting to understand how these technologies can help lawyers be more creative and more effective.”