FOR 5906 - SP 1: Artificial Decision-Making and Anthropocentric Principles of (Private) Law

Basic data for this project

Description

Artificial decision-making and Artificial Intelligence (AI) fundamentally challenge private law. Private Law is tailored to human decision-making and human intelligence. The anthropocentrism of private law is reflected in private law's legal AI-dogmatics: it tends to apply traditional, human-oriented instruments to solve AI-related problems. This is true for contracts as well as for torts. However, more and more private law scholars move away from the anthropocentrism of private law and experiment with new concepts. The project examines artificial decisions from the perspective of private law anthropocentrism. It develops a theory of private law concerning artificial decisions in the light of anthropocentric private law thinking. Based on this, doctrinal consequences for private law are developed. The aim is to develop concrete proposals for a technology-responsive reform of the German Civil Code (BGB) using comparative legal studies, based on the theory developed in the first funding phase. The subproject is guided by the methodology of "more responsive" legal dogmatics. From a systems theory perspective, artificial decisions lead to "irritations" in the private law system. We highlight these irritations in order to develop various responses from private law. The project aims for a methodologically sound reflection on private law theory which combines technical knowledge and legal doctrine. At the same time, the project analyses and - potentially - reshapes the role of private law scholarship in the context of artificial decision-making. The central theses are: 1. Anthropomorphizations can be an obstacle to technology-adequate private law doctrine. 2. Private law theory must consider the distinction between epistemic and normative anthropocentrism. Central private law concepts relate to humans. This is evident in structures, anthropomorphizations, and metaphorical concepts, and is reinforced by narrative semiotizations. 3. The private law discourse on artificial decisions is also a political discourse, as it involves questions of power and forms of inclusion and exclusion through law.