This timely book explores the legal and practical challenges created by the increasingly automated decision-making procedures underpinning EU multilevel cooperation, for example, in the fields of border control and law enforcement. It argues that such procedures impact not only the rights to privacy and data protection, but fundamentally challenge the EU constitutional promise of effective judicial protection
A New York Times bestselling author and tech columnist's counter-intuitive guide to staying relevant - and employable - in the machine age by becoming irreplaceably human. It's not a future scenario any more. We've been taught that to compete with automation and AI, we'll have to become more like the machines themselves, building up technical skills like coding. But, there's simply no way to keep up. What if all the advice is wrong? And what do we need to do instead to become futureproof? We tend to think of automation as a blue-collar phenomenon that will affect truck drivers, factory workers, and other people with repetitive manual jobs. But it's much, much broader than that. Lawyers are being automated out of existence. Last year, JPMorgan Chase built a piece of software called COIN, which uses machine learning to review complicated contracts and documents. It used to take the firm's lawyers more than 300,000 hours every year to review all of those documents. Now, it takes a few seconds, and requires just one human to run the program. Doctors are being automated out of existence, too. Last summer, a Chinese tech company built a deep learning algorithm that diagnosed brain cancer and other diseases faster and more accurately than a team of 15 top Chinese doctors. Kevin Roose has spent the past few years studying the question of how people, communities, and organisations adapt to periods of change, from the Industrial Revolution to the present. And the insight that is sweeping through Silicon Valley as we speak -- that in an age dominated by machines, it's human skills that really matter - is one of the more profound and counter-intuitive ideas he's discovered. It's the antidote to the doom-and-gloom worries many people feel when they think about AI and automation. And it's something everyone needs to hear. In nine accessible, prescriptive chapters, Roose distills what he has learned about how we will survive the future, that the way to become futureproof is to become incredibly, irreplaceably human.
Networks powered by algorithms are pervasive. Major contemporary technology trends - Internet of Things, Big Data, Digital Platform Power, Blockchain, and the Algorithmic Society - are manifestations of this phenomenon. The internet, which once seemed an unambiguous benefit to society, is now the basis for invasions of privacy, massive concentrations of power, and wide-scale manipulation. The algorithmic networked world poses deep questions about power, freedom, fairness, and human agency. The influential 1997 Federal Communications Commission whitepaper “Digital Tornado” hailed the “endless spiral of connectivity” that would transform society, and today, little remains untouched by digital connectivity. Yet fundamental questions remain unresolved, and even more serious challenges have emerged. This important collection, which offers a reckoning and a foretelling, features leading technology scholars who explain the legal, business, ethical, technical, and public policy challenges of building pervasive networks and algorithms for the benefit of humanity. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
The book presents observations concerning automated decision-making from a general point of view at the same time as it analyses the manner in which praxis in some jurisdictions has evolved as concerns automated decision-making and how the requirements that are placed by the legal orders on it are formulated. The principle of the rule of law should apply in the context of automated decision-making of public authorities just as much as when the decision-makers are physical persons. In sync with increasing automatization of decision-making in public authorities, problematizing questions about the appropriate legal basis for algorithmic decision-making have started emerge. How should the principle of the rule of law apply within the area of automated decision-making, how should automated decision-making be regulated so that it satisfies the requirements created by the principle of the rule of law, and how should the principle of the rule of law be made concrete in decision-making that is based on algorithms? The proposal for an AI Act launched by the European Commission in April 2021, including an identification of high-risk uses of algorithmic techniques, raises further questions concerning practices and interpretations related to automated decision-making. The state based on the rule of law proceeds from the maxim that public powers are exercised within a legal frame that makes the exercise of public powers foreseeable in light of legal norms. Also, a state based on the rule of law requires that the contents of the exercise of public powers is regulated by legal norms, which means that the citizens must be able to know everything that is relevant about how the powers will be exercised, not only who it is that will exercise the powers. Because of rules and principles of this kind, including non-discrimination and proportionality, the exercise of powers will not become arbitrary.
Governance of Automated Decision-Making and EU Law presents a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of the intricate relationship between technological innovation and democratic governance in Europe. Focused on preserving constitutional values within the European Union, the book rigorously examines the profound impact of information technologies on rule-making and decision-making processes. The dual objectives of the volume are to comprehensively explore the impact of innovative information technologies on the EU's public law and to devise future-proof regulatory strategies in the face of rapid technological advancements. Addressing the spread of information technology and automated decision-making processes across EU policy sectors, the work delves into potential risks to democratic principles and accountability standards. Advocating for a comprehensive approach, the volume integrates legal, policy, and technological considerations to establish accountability standards for automated decision-making systems. Tailored for academics, researchers, and policymakers, Governance of Automated Decision-Making and EU Law provides a vital resource for understanding the complexities and opportunities associated with the digitalization of shared administration in the EU. It contributes significantly to the ongoing discourse on safeguarding constitutional values and principles of good governance in the digital era. The findings underscore the interconnectedness of information systems across EU-regulated policy areas and the risks posed by automated decision-making systems. Urging attention to transparency and accountability, the book addresses these concerns through eleven chapters, offering insights into normative requirements, administrative procedures, market regulation, digital health, borders and immigration, political advertising, interoperability framework, AI technology, and their intersection with legal principles. This is an open-access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
With the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence, governments are integrating AI technologies into administrative and even judicial decision-making, aiding and in some cases even replacing human decision-makers. Predictive policing, automated benefits administration, and automated risk assessment in criminal sentencing are but a few prominent examples of a general trend. While the turn towards governmental automated decision-making promises to reduce the impact of human biases and produce efficiency gains, reducing the human element in governmental decision-making also entails significant risks. This book analyses these risks through a comparative constitutional law and human rights lens, examining US law, German law, and international human rights law. It also highlights the structural challenges that automation poses for legal systems built on the assumption of exclusively human decision-making. Special attention is paid to the question whether existing law can adequately address the lack of transparency in governmental automated decision-making, its discriminatory processes and outcomes, as well as its fundamental challenge to human agency. Building on that analysis, it proposes a path towards securing the values of human dignity and agency at the heart of democratic societies and the rule of law in an increasingly automated world. This book will be of interest to researchers and scholars focusing on the evolving relationship of law and technology as well as human rights scholars. Further, it represents a valuable contribution to the debate on the regulation of artificial intelligence and the role human rights can play in that process.
Algorithms are a fundamental building block of artificial intelligence - and, increasingly, society - but our legal institutions have largely failed to recognize or respond to this reality. The Cambridge Handbook of the Law of Algorithms, which features contributions from US, EU, and Asian legal scholars, discusses the specific challenges algorithms pose not only to current law, but also - as algorithms replace people as decision makers - to the foundations of society itself. The work includes wide coverage of the law as it relates to algorithms, with chapters analyzing how human biases have crept into algorithmic decision-making about who receives housing or credit, the length of sentences for defendants convicted of crimes, and many other decisions that impact constitutionally protected groups. Other issues covered in the work include the impact of algorithms on the law of free speech, intellectual property, and commercial and human rights law.
Increasingly, algorithms regulate our lives. Personal data is routinely processed on an unprecedented scale in both private and public sectors. This shift from more subjective and less structured human decision-making processes to automated ones has provoked numerous concerns with regard to the rights and freedoms of natural persons affected. In particular, those attached to profiling that can lead to discrimination influencing crucial opportunities of individuals, such as the ability to obtain credit, insurance, education, a job or even medical treatment. To the extent that automated individual decision-making is based on personal data, in the European Union it is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation. The author examines whether this legislative act affords sufficient protection of natural persons with regard to such processing, identifying the loopholes that hinder or prevent its efficacy and the de lege lata rules and de lege ferenda postulates that could provide individuals with effective protection in relation to automated individual decision-making. She provides an in-depth analysis of such aspects as the following: the GDPR’s background, terminology and material and territorial scope of application; key concerns regarding automated individual decision-making; specific and general provisions of the GDPR relevant to protection of natural persons with regard to automated individual decision-making; special and general rights of the data subject relevant to automated individual decision-making provided for in the GDPR; key limitations to algorithmic transparency; how profiling can create special categories of personal data by inference from ‘ordinary’ personal data; and how the version of reality derived from personal data is often at least partially inaccurate. To interpret the rules of the GDPR, the analysis draws on the travaux préparatoires, case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and national courts that concerns the previous Data Protection Directive, guidelines and opinions of the Article 29 Working Party and the European Data Protection Board, various reports and recommendations and numerous academic writings. In its consideration of some of the most controversial issues in the realm of personal data protection – issues whose role in the information society will grow rapidly – this book represents a major contribution to research and legal guidance at the confluence of law and new technologies concerning algorithmic accountability. Policymakers, regulators and lawyers active in the ongoing development of personal data protection law will become knowledgeable about interpretations and guidelines formulated by European data protection authorities, as well as examples and best practices in the field. Moreover practitioners will find the implementation of automated individual decision-making systems in accordance with the GDPR greatly facilitated. The analysis will assist data protection authorities and judicature in assessing such systems and interpreting the GDPR framework with regard to protection of natural persons in the years to come.
There is perhaps no facet of modern society where the influence of computer automation has not been felt. Flight management systems for pilots, diagnostic and surgical aids for physicians, navigational displays for drivers, and decision-aiding systems for air-traffic controllers, represent only a few of the numerous domains in which powerful new automation technologies have been introduced. The benefits that have been reaped from this technological revolution have been many. At the same time, automation has not always worked as planned by designers, and many problems have arisen--from minor inefficiencies of operation to large-scale, catastrophic accidents. Understanding how humans interact with automation is vital for the successful design of new automated systems that are both safe and efficient. The influence of automation technology on human performance has often been investigated in a fragmentary, isolated manner, with investigators conducting disconnected studies in different domains. There has been little contact between these endeavors, although principles gleaned from one domain may have implications for another. Also, with a few exceptions, the research has tended to be empirical and only theory-driven. In recent years, however, various groups of investigators have begun to examine human performance in automated systems in general and to develop theories of human interaction with automation technology. This book presents the current theories and assesses the impact of automation on different aspects of human performance. Both basic and applied research is presented to highlight the general principles of human-computer interaction in several domains where automation technologies are widely implemented. The major premise is that a broad-based, theory-driven approach will have significant implications for the effective design of both current and future automation technologies. This volume will be of considerable value to researchers in human
