Why Personalized Law?

Abstract

Big data and advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have made it possible to personalize legal rules. In this essay, I investigate the question of whether laws should be personalized. Omri Ben-Shahar and Ariel Porat argue that personalized law could be a “precision tool” to achieve whatever goal the lawmaker wants to achieve. This argument is not convincing. The most “natural” fit and best normative justification for a personalized law program is welfarism/utilitarianism. This is because personalized law and welfarism/utilitarianism are both based on normative individualism. But welfarism/utilitarianism is a highly problematic social philosophy. Against this background, it becomes clear why personalized law should only have a limited role to play in lawmaking. The focus of state action should not be the design and running of a personalized law program. Rather, it should be on controlling “wild personalization” by powerful private actors.

Keywords: Personalized Law, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Welfarism, Utilitarianism, Efficiency

JEL Classification: K00