Delegating the law of artificial intelligence : a procedural account of technology-neutral regulation
| dc.contributor.author | ALMADA, Marco | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-07-12T15:42:32Z | |
| dc.date.embargo | 2025-05-26 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description | Defence date: 12 July 2024 | en |
| dc.description | Examining Board: Prof. Deirdre Curtin (European University Institute, Supervisor) ; Prof. Nicolas Petit (European University Institute) ; Prof. Madalina Busuioc (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) ; Prof. Albert Sanchez Graells (University of Bristol Law School) | en |
| dc.description | Made available in Open Access on 27 May 2025. | |
| dc.description.abstract | The growing popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is a pressing matter for regulation in the European Union (EU) and beyond. Faced with the growing adoption of AI technologies in society, legislators often try to address AI-related issues through so-called technology-neutral regulation, that is, through regulatory instruments that apply equally to different technologies. The general meaning of technology neutrality is clear at first glance, yet scholars and policymakers in various domains have interpreted and developed the concept in different—and sometimes incompatible— ways. As a result, there is considerable divergence about what technology neutrality requires and what it adds to AI regulation. I address that divergence by proposing a new account of technology-neutral regulation. Under the procedural account, which I introduce in Part I of this thesis, technology-neutral regulation is nothing more—and nothing less—than the delegation of the power to determine the contents of the law concerning certain technologies. Viewing technology-neutral regulation in this way, I argue, allows one to reconcile the different definitions of the concept that appear in current scholarship. More importantly, it invites scholars and policymakers to focus their analyses on the actors who exercise that power and the legal constraints which bind them, rather than on mentions of technology in legal texts. This change of focus could lead to new insights about regulation and help articulate debates that seem to have little in common with one another. In Part II of the thesis, I use the procedural account to reassess ongoing discussions about AI in EU law. By doing so, I am able to map the competence and legitimacy gaps stemming from technology-neutral regulation and suggest ways to alleviate them. Therefore, viewing technology-neutral regulation as delegation is not simply a theoretical argument but a potentially valuable tool for policymakers and scholars dealing with AI. | en |
| dc.description.version | Chapter 5 'Technology neutrality in the Artificial Intelligence Act' of the PhD thesis draws upon two earlier versions (a working paper and the an article) 'The EU AI act : a medley of product safety and fundamental rights?' RSC Working Paper 2023/59 and 'The Brussels side-effect : how the AI Act can reduce the global reach of EU policy' (2024) in the 'German law journal'. | en |
| dc.description.version | Chapter 6 'Regulating artificial intelligence by design' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as article 'Regulation by design and the governance of technological futures' (2023) in the 'European journal of risk regulation'. | en |
| dc.embargo.terms | 2025-05-26 | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.citation | Florence : European University Institute, 2024 | en |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.2870/94276 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1814/77064 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.orcid.upload | false | * |
| dc.publisher | European University Institute | en |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | EUI | en |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | LAW | en |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | PhD Thesis | en |
| dc.relation.replaces | https://hdl.handle.net/1814/76702 | en |
| dc.relation.replaces | https://hdl.handle.net/1814/75982 | en |
| dc.relation.replaces | https://hdl.handle.net/1814/75586 | en |
| dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess | en |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Artificial intelligence -- Law and legislation | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Technological innovations -- Law and legislation -- European Union countries | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Technology and law | |
| dc.title | Delegating the law of artificial intelligence : a procedural account of technology-neutral regulation | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| eui.subscribe.skip | true | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0002-0127-6549 | |
| person.identifier.other | 45165 | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication | e8151de4-90b3-4008-b697-7e739c7a73f9 | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | e8151de4-90b3-4008-b697-7e739c7a73f9 |
