Digital Monsters: Reconciling AI Narratives as Investigations of Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligence
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University of the Sunshine Coast
Australia
Abstract
Cultural legal investigations of the nexus between law, culture and society are crucial for developing our understanding of how the relationships between humans and artificially intelligent entities (AIE) will evolve along with the technology itself. However, narratives of artificial intelligence (AI) have been much debated as a source of investigation for the functioning of human–AI relationships within law and society, with some scholars arguing that these texts are essential and others maintaining that AI narratives are illusory as to the practical operation of AI. This article resolves the discrepancies between these seemingly opposing viewpoints. A cultural legal reading of the updated anime series Digimon Adventure (2020) enables a reconciliation of the use of AI narratives as a method of scholarly interpellation of human–AI interactions. Utilising the theory of legal personhood, this reading proposes that AIE form legal and social relations not as a legal person or as a tool, but rather as a monster on a spectrum in between. Reading the contexts of legal personhood through the text of Digimon Adventure allows for a more nuanced understanding of these relationships and interactions as AI evolves.
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Author Biography
Quinn Edwards is an early career researcher at the University of the Sunshine Coast, specialising in Cultural Legal Studies, Narratives of Artificial Intelligence and Legal Personhood. Inspired by a tradition of analysing the nexus point between law and culture, Quinn’s research brings together these abovementioned scholarly fields. As a Confirmed PhD Candidate, Quinn is constantly seeking for new sources of knowledge, and ways to apply them in his own work. As a Teaching Fellow in Law at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Quinn blends his novel research into teaching methods design to explore, question and promote learning. Quinn is an admitted lawyer in the State of Queensland, Australia, and is an active member of the Law Literature and Humanities Association of Australasia. Having presented at multiple conferences around the world, Quinn is constantly searching for ways to share his research, and engage in academic discussions.
