Law in the Context and Paradigm of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

A legal system is often expected to remain at least one evolutionary step ahead of the social environment it regulates. This raises a further question: can law also ante‑situate itself with respect to the technical and technological evolution that shapes the very social environment it seeks to govern? In other words, if law is a constructed‑anthropic system that inevitably captures, interprets, and shapes the social world, can it also anticipate and normatively structure the technological dynamics that increasingly constitute that world? A first step toward answering this question is the contextualization of law within the broader framework of technical and technological progress. Only by situating law in relation to these accelerating transformations can we identify the regulatory and conceptual needs that must be translated into legal categories, principles, and institutional mechanisms. This contextualization allows us to understand not only how technology reshapes society, but also how law must adapt—proactively and structurally—to ensure that its normative architecture remains capable of guiding, constraining, and shaping the evolving socio‑technical environment.