Pioneers and Pathfinders Jack Cushman
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Oct 29, 2025 Jack Cushman is the Director of the Harvard Library Innovation Lab and a former software engineer and appellate attorney. He discusses his journey from tech to law, influenced by conflicts like Google Books. Jack shares insights on how libraries adapt in the digital age and their crucial role in community building. He emphasizes the importance of libraries in grounding AI practices and suggests that lawyers develop computational thinking skills. Jack also explores the need for reliable AI systems in legal fields and the evolving benchmarks for measuring their impact.
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From Programmer To Appellate Lawyer
- Jack Cushman moved from programming to law because tech problems were often legal problems, like the Google Books dispute.
- He loved appellate law's intellectual rigor but left litigation for a building-focused role at the Lab.
Libraries Shape Tech's Knowledge Layer
- The Library Innovation Lab brings library principles to technological frontiers to shape future knowledge access.
- The Lab goes where people access knowledge now and tries to build in librarians' values from the start.
Core Library Mission Survives Tech Shifts
- Libraries consistently collect, preserve, and share knowledge to empower communities across technological shifts.
- Major tech changes (printing press, databases) force libraries to rebuild policies and services to meet new needs.