Algorithmic Rule By Law: How Algorithmic Regulation in the Public Sector Erodes the Rule of Law - Ethics in AI Lunchtime Research Seminars
Public authorities are increasingly turning to algorithmic regulation, or the use of algorithmic systems to apply and enforce the law. Their adoption of algorithmic regulation tends to be motivated by the desire to improve public services and to better fulfil citizens’ rights, thus seemingly contributing to the rule of law. However, in practice, many use cases have demonstrated how reliance on algorithmic systems can undermine the law’s protective power and instead lead to rule by law. This risk is hence neither hypothetical, nor limited to authoritarian regimes. In Europe, the creation of the European Union’s AI Act offered a beacon of hope to address this concern, yet EU legislators ultimately failed to take it into account in their regulation. In this talk, Nathalie Smuha therefore argues that there is a significant misalignment between the EU’s digital agenda and its rule of law agenda, which urgently needs to be addressed to counter the threat of algorithmic rule by law.
Date: 12 February 2025, 12:30
Venue: Please register to receive venue details
Speaker: Professor Dr Nathalie Smuha (KU Leuven)
Organiser contact email address: aiethicsevents@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Hosts: Dr Thomas Mitchell (Philosophy, Oxford), Dr David Storrs-Fox (Philosophy, Oxford)
Part of: Ethics in AI Lunchtime Seminars
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://www.oxford-aiethics.ox.ac.uk/algorithmic-rule-law-how-algorithmic-regulation-public-sector-erodes-rule-law
Booking email: aiethicsevents@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editor: Marie Watson