Presentation given at the CRCL 2022: Computational ‘law’ on edge conference (CRCL2022), Brussels, 3 ovember 2022 https://www.cohubicol.com/about/conference-crcl-2022/

1. Code-driven Law NO,
Normware SI!
3 November 2022, CRCL conference “Computational Law on Edge”, Brussels
Giovanni Sileno, g.sileno@uva.nl
Socially Intelligent Artificial Systems (SIAS),
Informatics Institute, University of Amsterdam

2. Part I:
types of “law”,
and a more nuanced distinction

3. text-driven law
Hildebrandt, M., Code Driven Law. Scaling the Past and Freezing the Future, In: Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law
and Artificial Intelligence, eds. Markou, Deakin, Hart Publishers (2020)
code-driven law
data-driven law

4. text-driven law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law
Hildebrandt, M., Code Driven Law. Scaling the Past and Freezing the Future, In: Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law
and Artificial Intelligence, eds. Markou, Deakin, Hart Publishers (2020)
code-driven law
data-driven law

5. data-driven law
text-driven law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law
automatic decision-making
or predictions used in support derived
from statistical/inductive methods
Hildebrandt, M., Code Driven Law. Scaling the Past and Freezing the Future, In: Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law
and Artificial Intelligence, eds. Markou, Deakin, Hart Publishers (2020)
code-driven law

6. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-driven law
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law
automatic decision-making
or predictions used in support derived
from statistical/inductive methods
Hildebrandt, M., Code Driven Law. Scaling the Past and Freezing the Future, In: Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law
and Artificial Intelligence, eds. Markou, Deakin, Hart Publishers (2020)

7. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-driven law
Hildebrandt, M., Code Driven Law. Scaling the Past and Freezing the Future, In: Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law
and Artificial Intelligence, eds. Markou, Deakin, Hart Publishers (2020)
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law
open-textured concepts
multi-interpretability
→ it can be contested
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code
automatic decision-making
or predictions used in support derived
from statistical/inductive methods

8. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-driven law
Hildebrandt, M., Code Driven Law. Scaling the Past and Freezing the Future, In: Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law
and Artificial Intelligence, eds. Markou, Deakin, Hart Publishers (2020)
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law
open-textured concepts
multi-interpretability
→ it can be contested statistical closure logical closure
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code
automatic decision-making
or predictions used in support derived
from statistical/inductive methods

9. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-driven law
Hildebrandt, M., Code Driven Law. Scaling the Past and Freezing the Future, In: Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law
and Artificial Intelligence, eds. Markou, Deakin, Hart Publishers (2020)
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law
open-textured concepts
multi-interpretability
→ it can be contested statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code
automatic decision-making
or predictions used in support derived
from statistical/inductive methods

10. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-driven law
Hildebrandt, M., Code Driven Law. Scaling the Past and Freezing the Future, In: Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law
and Artificial Intelligence, eds. Markou, Deakin, Hart Publishers (2020)
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law
open-textured concepts
multi-interpretability
→ it can be contested statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code
automatic decision-making
or predictions used in support derived
from statistical/inductive methods

11. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-driven law
Hildebrandt, M., Code Driven Law. Scaling the Past and Freezing the Future, In: Is Law Computable? Critical Perspectives on Law
and Artificial Intelligence, eds. Markou, Deakin, Hart Publishers (2020)
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law
open-textured concepts
multi-interpretability
→ it can be contested statistical closure logical closure
COMPUTATIONAL LEGALISM
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code
automatic decision-making
or predictions used in support derived
from statistical/inductive methods

12. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-driven law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code
automatic decision-making
or predictions used in support derived
from statistical/inductive methods
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?

13. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
in so far humans are involved
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

14. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
instance + label
instance + label
instance + label
instance + label
…..
TRAINING
DATASET
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

15. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
instance + label
instance + label
instance + label
instance + label
…..
is the training data set
representative of
the domain in which
it will be applied?
is the rationality behind labeling
still the same?
TRAINING
DATASET
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

16. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
instance + label
instance + label
instance + label
instance + label
…..
is the training data set
representative of
the domain in which
it will be applied?
is the rationality behind labeling
still the same?
TRAINING
DATASET
is the training method
producing adequate,
reproducible, robust results?
TRAINING
METHOD
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

17. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
instance + label
instance + label
instance + label
instance + label
…..
is the training data set
representative of
the domain in which
it will be applied?
is the rationality behind labeling
still the same?
TRAINING
DATASET
is the training method
producing adequate,
reproducible, robust results?
TRAINING
METHOD
→ it can be contested
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

18. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
fact
fact
….
STRUCTURAL
rule
rule
…..
CONTINGENT
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

19. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
fact
fact
….
STRUCTURAL
rule
rule
…..
CONTINGENT
were all the relevant rules considered?
were all the relevant facts given?
is the formalization correct?
is the reasoning tool robust?
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

20. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty +
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
fact
fact
….
STRUCTURAL
rule
rule
…..
CONTINGENT
→ it can be contested
were all the relevant rules considered?
were all the relevant facts given?
is the formalization correct?
is the reasoning tool robust?
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

21. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
the COMPUTATIONAL LEGALISM “ideal” works
only in so far we forget all what may go wrong
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

22. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
is this all?
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

23. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) +
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
these principles
could be to some
extent formalized as
meta-rules
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

24. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) +
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) +
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
these principles
could be to some
extent formalized as
meta-rules
these goals
could be made explicit
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

25. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) +
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) +
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
these principles
could be to some
extent formalized as
meta-rules
these goals
could be made explicit
can we be sure about a certain
formalization?
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

26. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) +
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
these principles
could be to some
extent formalized as
meta-rules
these goals
could be made explicit
never.
can we be sure about a certain
formalization?
(cf. discussions on
universal human
rights, ethical
frameworks)
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

27. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) +
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
these principles
could be to some
extent formalized as
meta-rules
these goals
could be made explicit
may we be ever ready for that?
(explicit articulation of
policy-maker purposes)
never.
can we be sure about a certain
formalization?
(cf. discussions on
universal human
rights, ethical
frameworks)
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

28. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
these principles
could be to some
extent formalized as
meta-rules
these goals
could be made explicit
may we be ever ready for that?
(explicit articulation of
policy-maker purposes)
not to a full extent.
never.
can we be sure about a certain
formalization?
(cf. discussions on
universal human
rights, ethical
frameworks)
(it may require to be transparent on
highly contestable issues)
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

29. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
statistical closure logical closure
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution, …) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
these principles
could be to some
extent formalized as
meta-rules
these goals
could be made explicit
may we be ever ready for that?
(explicit articulation of
policy-maker purposes)
not to a full extent.
never.
can we be sure about a certain
formalization?
(cf. discussions on
universal human
rights, ethical
frameworks)
(it may require to be transparent on
highly contestable issues)
the COMPUTATIONAL JUSTICE “ideal”
assumes perfect “conceptualization”
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

30. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
the COMPUTATIONAL JUSTICE “ideal”
assumes perfect “conceptualization”
the COMPUTATIONAL LEGALISM “ideal”
works only in so far we forget all what
may go wrong
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

31. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
the COMPUTATIONAL JUSTICE “ideal”
assumes perfect “conceptualization”
the COMPUTATIONAL LEGALISM “ideal”
works only in so far we forget all what
may go wrong
let’s accept things may go wrong at all level
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

32. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
the COMPUTATIONAL JUSTICE “ideal”
assumes perfect “conceptualization”
the COMPUTATIONAL LEGALISM “ideal”
works only in so far we forget all what may
go wrong
let’s accept things may go wrong at all level
people or other actors should
be able to appeal
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

33. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
the COMPUTATIONAL JUSTICE “ideal”
assumes perfect “conceptualization”
the COMPUTATIONAL LEGALISM “ideal”
works only in so far we forget all what
may go wrong
let’s accept things may go wrong at all level
let’s accept we need to integrate
systematically feedbacks from
higher-order courts, jurisprudence or
other normative sources
people or other actors should
be able to appeal
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code

34. code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
let’s accept things may go wrong at all level
let’s accept we need to integrate
systematically feedbacks from
higher-order courts, jurisprudence or
other normative sources
people or other actors should
be able to appeal courts or other actors should
be able to quash
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code
the COMPUTATIONAL JUSTICE “ideal”
assumes perfect “conceptualization”
the COMPUTATIONAL LEGALISM “ideal”
works only in so far we forget all what
may go wrong

35. including computational actors
possibility of continuous, automated testing/verification
code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
let’s accept things may go wrong at all level
let’s accept we need to integrate
systematically feedbacks from
higher-order courts, jurisprudence or
other normative sources
people or other actors should
be able to appeal courts or other actors should
be able to quash
legal norms or policies that have
been articulated in computer code
the COMPUTATIONAL JUSTICE “ideal”
assumes perfect “conceptualization”
the COMPUTATIONAL LEGALISM “ideal”
works only in so far we forget all what
may go wrong

36. including computational actors
possibility of continuous, automated testing/verification
code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
derived from legal norms or policies that
have been articulated in computer code
(or from other methods)
lower authority w.r.t. human authorities!!!
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
the COMPUTATIONAL JUSTICE “ideal”
assumes perfect “conceptualization”
the COMPUTATIONAL LEGALISM “ideal”
works only in so far we forget all what
may go wrong
let’s accept things may go wrong at all level
let’s accept we need to integrate
systematically feedbacks from
higher-order courts, jurisprudence or
other normative sources
people or other actors should
be able to appeal courts or other actors should
be able to quash
code-guided law
monolithical systems
ecological system including
interfaces with humans

37. including computational actors
possibility of continuous, automated testing/verification
code-driven law
data-driven law
text-guided law
derived from legal norms or policies that
have been articulated in computer code
(or from other methods)
lower authority w.r.t. human authorities!!!
legal activity performed by humans by
means of sources of norms such as
statute and case law decision support systems
legal certainty ?
justice (proportionality, distribution) ?
instrumentality (contextual policy goals) ?
data-guided law
automatic decision-making
derived from statistical/inductive
methods
the COMPUTATIONAL JUSTICE “ideal”
assumes perfect “conceptualization”
the COMPUTATIONAL LEGALISM “ideal”
works only in so far we forget all what
may go wrong
let’s accept things may go wrong at all level
let’s accept we need to integrate
systematically feedbacks from
higher-order courts, jurisprudence or
other normative sources
people or other actors should
be able to appeal courts or other actors should
be able to quash
code-guided law
monolithical systems
ecological system including
interfaces with humans
a serious technological gap exists today...

38. Part II:
what is normware?

39. A tentative ontology
SOFTWARE
HARDWARE
● physical device
● when running
⇒ physical process
● situated in a
physical environment
● symbolic device
● when running
⇒ symbolic process
● relies on
physical processes

40. ?
A tentative ontology
SOFTWARE
HARDWARE NORMWARE
● physical device
● when running
⇒ physical process
● situated in a
physical environment
● symbolic device
● when running
⇒ symbolic process
● relies on
physical processes
● ?
● when running
⇒ ?
● relies on ?

41. ?
A tentative ontology
SOFTWARE
HARDWARE NORMWARE
● physical device
● when running
⇒ physical process
● situated in a
physical environment
● symbolic device
● when running
⇒ symbolic process
● relies on
physical processes
● ?
● when running
⇒ ?
● relies on ?
ARTIFACT
dimension
PROCESS
dimension

42. Normware as artifacts:
directives concerning regulation
the cookie jar
must be full
you are prohibited
to eat cookies
you can not eat
cookies

43. Normware as artifacts:
directives concerning regulation
aiming to regulate behaviour
aiming to regulate situations in the world
the cookie jar
must be full
you are prohibited
to eat cookies
you can not eat
cookies

44. we can have explicit normative
specifications…
Normware as artifacts:
directives concerning regulation
access-control policies
languages based on
deontic logic
languages based
on Hohfeld’s
primitives

45. but programs in themselves
are already mandatory in nature!
a := 2 + 2 system has to perform 2 + 2…
?mother(maggie, bart) system has to prove that…
animal :- dog. system has to make animal true if dog is true
Normware as artifacts:
directives concerning regulation

46. Normware as artifacts:
directives concerning terminology
the cookie jar
must be full
you are prohibited
to eat cookies
you can not eat
cookies
what is a cookie?
what does it mean to be full?
what is eating?
who is you?
what is a jar?

47. Normware as artifacts:
directives concerning expectations
the cookie jar
must be full
you are prohibited
to eat cookies
you can not eat
cookies
eating cookies → cookies are destroyed → the jar is not full
practical normative
reasoning
always require
some world
knowledge

48. Normware as artifacts:
devices intended to regulate
doors regulate entrances
semaphores regulate traffic

49. Normware as artifacts:
devices intended to regulate
doors regulate entrances
semaphores regulate traffic
we do not have access to the inner
decision-making mechanism that brings to
the current output state!

50. Normware as artifacts:
devices intended to regulate
black-boxes (eg. ML models) are also artifacts
expressing some form of normativity/normality
“is this a cat?”
“how to (best) behave in certain conditions?”

51. Normware as artifacts:
devices intended to regulate
black-boxes (eg. ML models) are also artifacts
expressing some form of normativity/normality
“is this a cat?”
“how to (best) behave in certain conditions?”
from a functional point of view, they also
count as normware!

52. Whether artificial or natural, designed or emergent,
what counts in control is
● the existence of some reference (the target of control),
● which the entity is set to either approach or avoid (the direction of control).
Normware as processes:
regulation as control

53. Whether artificial or natural, designed or emergent,
what counts in control is
● the existence of some reference (the target of control),
● which the entity is set to either approach or avoid (the direction of control).
behavioural or
situational space
intervention
current state
target state
Normware as processes:
regulation as control

54. what defines the references though?
target state
current state
direction
Normware as processes:
regulation as control

55. Whether artificial or natural, designed or emergent,
what counts in control is
● the existence of some reference (the target of control),
● which the entity is set to either approach or avoid (the direction of control).
by defining directives by this control signature (target, direction), any
regulative mechanisms can be abstracted from its implementation.
direction
Normware as processes:
regulation as control
current state
target state

56. indeterminacy of references
Normware as processes:
higher-order indetermination

57. indeterminacy of references
indeterminacy of directives
Normware as processes:
higher-order indetermination

58. indeterminacy of references antinomies
indeterminacy of directives
Normware as processes:
higher-order indetermination

59. indeterminacy of references antinomies
indeterminacy of directives
Normware as processes:
higher-order indetermination
mechanisms of conflict resolution
are needed at systematic level!

60. Normware: first-order control
GOAL ACTION

61. Normware: first-order control
GOAL ACTION
labelled dataset ML black box
instruction operation
data-driven
code-driven

62. Normware: first-order control
GOAL ACTION
labelled dataset ML black box
instruction operation
data-driven
code-driven
pool of actions
In both cases, some method has been used to select
the action from a pool of actions…

63. GOAL ACTION
But then, where the goal comes from?
pool of actions
Normware: first-order control
labelled dataset ML black box
instruction operation
data-driven
code-driven

64. TACTICAL GOAL ACTION
pool of actions
Normware: second-order control
STRATEGIC GOAL
Adding depth!

65. pool of goals
TACTICAL GOAL ACTION
pool of actions
Normware: second-order control
STRATEGIC GOAL
Adding depth!

66. pool of goals
TACTICAL GOAL ACTION
pool of actions
Normware: second-order control
STRATEGIC GOAL
Sileno, G., Boer, A. and van Engers, T., The Role of Normware in Trustworthy and Explainable AI,
Proceedings of XAILA workshop: Explainable AI and Law, in conjunction with JURIX 2018
trustworthy AI and
explainable AI issues
in ML due to lack of the
strategic component
Adding depth!

67. TACTICAL GOAL ACTION
Normware: second-order control
STRATEGIC GOAL
cybernetic view on systems: policy, intelligence, operations

68. TACTICAL GOAL ACTION
Normware: second-order control
STRATEGIC GOAL
…yet it is about a single “organism”, not an “ecology” “TOTALITARIAN”
architecture
cybernetic view on systems: policy, intelligence, operations

69. Normware: plural second-order control
we need to acknowledge the presence of several autonomous entities,

70. Normware: plural second-order control
we need to acknowledge the presence of several autonomous entities,

71. Normware: plural second-order control
we need to acknowledge the presence of several autonomous entities,
and adequate conflict resolution mechanisms

72. Normware: plural second-order control
resolution mechanisms
may also result from
a similar process

73. Normware: plural second-order control
resolution mechanisms
may also result from
a similar process
“PARTICIPATORY”
architecture

74. Normware: plural second-order control
resolution mechanisms
may also result from
a similar process
“PARTICIPATORY”
architecture
Sileno, G., Grosso, P., Accounting Value Effects for Responsible Networking. Proceedings of ACM SIGCOMM 2021 Workshop on
Technologies, Applications, and Uses of a Responsible Internet (TAURIN2021).

75. ?
SOFTWARE
HARDWARE NORMWARE
physical device
when running
⇒ physical process
situated in a
physical environment
symbolic device
when running
⇒ symbolic process
relies on
physical processes
coordination device
when running
⇒ coordination process
relies on symbolic (possibly
hard-coded) processes
A less tentative ontology

76. Key points
● There is continuity between institutional and computational activities.
● We don’t need institutions to become more mechanical,
institutional constructs need to be brought into the computational realm.
● As we have a plurality of normative sources, we need a plurality of
computational normative sources.
normware

77. mechanizing law
introducing legitimate normative
processes within the computational realm
SI!
NO
Contemporary socio-technical challenge:

78. Contemporary socio-technical challenge:
mechanizing law
introducing legitimate normative
processes within the computational realm
SI!
code-driven law
data-driven law
normware
law-makers, policy-makers, citizens, …
NO

79. Code-driven Law NO,
Normware SI!
3 November 2022, CRCL conference “Computational Law on Edge”, Brussels
Giovanni Sileno, g.sileno@uva.nl
Socially Intelligent Artificial Systems (SIAS),
Informatics Institute, University of Amsterdam