Jennifer Raso

Biography

Dr. Jennifer Raso (BA, LLB, SJD) is Associate Professor at McGill's Faculty of Law, a leadership team member with the McGill Collaborative on AI and Society (McCAIS), co-convenor of ICON-S' Global Data Law Interest Group, and Associate Academic Member of Mila - Quebec AI Institute.

The first legal scholar to study algorithmic decision-making in Canada, Dr. Raso is well known internationally for her groundbreaking interdisciplinary research on digital government. Drawing on legal, social science, and computer science scholarship, her research illuminates how decisions in various settings – from social benefits to immigration – are co-generated by humans, algorithmic tools, and institutions. Her research theorizes the implications for discretion, public law, and administrative justice. At its core, her work explores not just how responsible AI operates, it also asks what AI for the benefit of all might require.

As Principal Investigator, her research has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC), the Canadian Foundation for Legal Research, and Australia's Endeavour Program. She advises multidisciplinary research teams studying algorithmic fairness in the United Kingdom, Norway, and Denmark, Law Commissions in Canada (Ontario) and New Zealand, and public interest organizations such as the UK's Child Poverty Action Centre.

Dr. Raso is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Richard Hart Prize for early career research in public law (University of Cambridge Public Law Conference, 2016) and, most recently, the Canadian Association of Law Teachers' Scholarly Paper Award (2025).