Damián Tuset Varela (2024). Artificial Intelligence Law through the Lens of Michel Foucault: Biopower, Surveillance, and the Reconfiguration of Legal Normativity. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 12, 189-201.
https://www.doi.org/10.4236/jss.2024.1212012
Abstract
This paper examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on legal systems through the theoretical lens of Michel Foucault. It explores how AI, as a contemporary technological apparatus, reinforces structures of surveillance and control, aligning with Foucault’s concepts of biopower and technologies of the self. The study argues that AI poses significant challenges to traditional legal categories of responsibility and morality, necessitating a reevaluation of legal frameworks. By analyzing case studies such as predictive policing in the United States and China’s social credit system, this paper demonstrates how AI functions as a form of biopower, extending state and corporate influence over individuals. The central hypothesis is that AI has the potential to deconstruct traditional notions of legal accountability and moral responsibility, urging a revaluation of the axiological aspects of existing law. The paper concludes by proposing legal adaptations, such as algorithmic impact assessments and enhanced transparency measures, to mitigate the risks of AI-driven control and safeguard individual autonomy.
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence, Michel Foucault, Biopower, Surveillance, Technologies of the Self, Legal Accountability, Privacy, Autonomy, Predictive Policing, Social Credit System
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