Drawing on debates in Sweden about Internet freedom, particularly those connected to copyright and file-sharing, and on the European legislative trend of amending copyright, this chapter analyses metaphors and conceptions in terms of a societal paradigmatic shift and the collision of mentalities. Kuhnian paradigms are wedded with the mentalities of the French Annales school of historic research. The chapter argues that the “building blocks” of these mentalities and paradigms can be studied in metaphors, in public debates or in legislation, which may reveal the conceptions they emanate from. This chapter touches upon ethical, moral and legal issues related to the digitisation of society. The relevancy of this chapter in relation to the theme of the book is found in the problematisation of “deviancy”. One has to ask from what perspective or paradigm the judgment of the behaviour takes place, and in what historical context it is made.
This is an overview article regarding artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential normative implications. Technology has always had inherent normative consequences not least due to AI and the use of algorithms. There is a crucial difference between algorithms in a technical sense and from a social-science perspective. It is a question of different orders of normativity—the first related to the algorithm as a technical instruction and the second to the consequences springing from the first order. I call these last-mentioned norms algo norms. These are embedded in the technology and determined by the design of the AI. The outcome is an empirical question. AI and algo norms are moving targets, which call for a novel scientific approach that relates to advanced practice. Law actualizes primarily for preventive reasons in relation to negative aspects of the new technology. No major regulatory scheme for AI exists. In the article, I point out some areas that raise the need for legal regulation. Finally, I comment on three main challenges for the digital development in relation to AI: (1) the energy costs; (2) the singularity point; and (3) the governance problems.
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