Neither physical nor juridical persons: electronic personhood and an evolving theory of archival diplomatics

ABSTRACT In 2017 the European Union (EU) adopted P8_TA-PRO0051, a resolution outlining a series of recommendations for the Commission on Civil Law Rules for Robotics. Despite its ostensibly futuristic premise, the resolution is firmly grounded in the concerns of the present: mapping the legal and ethical implications of autonomous robots for European lawmakers. Included in the EU resolution is the proposal to investigate creating a legal status for electronic persons so that autonomous robots can be responsible for damages they cause. One inconspicuous site that stands to be transformed by a legislative instrument granting electronic personhood is archival diplomatics: the prospect of electronic persons represents a peculiar challenge to some of its foundational ideas. That is, the definition of persons — the central element of any document — within diplomatics has not yet been discussed in relation to the possibility of electronic persons or personhood. Drawing from legal scholarship on robotics, I will provide an exploratory overview of what a status as persons for autonomous robots and AI systems might entail for an evolving theory of archival diplomatics.