Gaston Rey has posted Algorithmic Constitutionalism – Normative Principles for the Constitution of the Future: Fourth-Generation Digital Rights on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This paper proposes a disruptive legal framework titled “Algorithmic Constitutionalism,” designed to address the unprecedented challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in the displacement of power toward computational architectures. The author argues that classical constitutionalism is currently in a state of “chronological lag,” unable to constrain a power that operates through code rather than traditional coercion.
The proposal, drawing from interdisciplinary insights, evolves beyond reactive regulations such as GDPR to addresses existential risks such as misalignment, automation bias, algorithmic feudalism, and plutocratic capture, while harnessing opportunities for abundance and human emancipation. Key chapters explore transhumanism, the transition of state power from coercion to computational design, polycentric global governance, blockchain-based institutional experimentation, and Universal Basic Income (UBI) as an enforceable algorithmic right.
The core contribution is a Decalogue of guiding principles —such as the supremacy of human agency, non-delegation of responsibility, reversibility, traceability, structural precaution, citizen control, constitutionalization by design, power differentiation, oracle auditing, and the abundance dividend—designed as fourth-generation digital rights to protect individual autonomy in an AGI-dominated era. Emphasizing “limit before trust to ensure progress”, bridging current ethical gaps and inspiring future legislative developments in a post-scarcity world.