From Slaves to Synths? Superintelligence and the Evolution of Legal Personality
Identification
- Public canonical key
- doi:10.48550/arxiv.2601.02773
- Authors
- Simon Arthur Chesterman
- Reported year
- 2026
- Reported language
- en
- Source type
- preprint
- First detected
- 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
- Last metadata observation
- 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
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Institutions reported by the source
National University of Singapore
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SG
Documentary abstract — original language
This essay examines the evolving concept of legal personality through the lens of recent developments in artificial intelligence and the possible emergence of superintelligence. Legal systems have long been open to extending personhood to non-human entities, most prominently corporations, for instrumental or inherent reasons. Instrumental rationales emphasize accountability and administrative efficiency, whereas inherent ones appeal to moral worth and autonomy. Neither is yet sufficient to justify conferring personhood on AI. Nevertheless, the acceleration of technological autonomy may lead us to reconsider how law conceptualizes agency and responsibility. Drawing on comparative jurisprudence, corporate theory, and the emerging literature on AI governance, the paper argues that existing frameworks can address short-term accountability gaps, but the eventual development of superintelligence may force a paradigmatic shift in our understanding of law itself. In such a speculative future, legal personality may depend less on the cognitive sophistication of machines than on humanity's ability to preserve our own moral and institutional sovereignty.
Identifiers
- OPENALEX
- W7118470631
- DOI
- 10.48550/arxiv.2601.02773
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- preprint
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OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2
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Cite this reference
Simon Arthur Chesterman. From Slaves to Synths? Superintelligence and the Evolution of Legal Personality. 2026. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2601.02773
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- APA
- Simon Arthur Chesterman. (2026). From Slaves to Synths? Superintelligence and the Evolution of Legal Personality. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2601.02773
- Chicago
- Simon Arthur Chesterman. From Slaves to Synths? Superintelligence and the Evolution of Legal Personality. 2026. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2601.02773
- ISO 690
- Simon Arthur Chesterman. From Slaves to Synths? Superintelligence and the Evolution of Legal Personality. 2026. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2601.02773
UDTR Global Rights of Nature Legal Library. From Slaves to Synths? Superintelligence and the Evolution of Legal Personality. Documentary record: https://www.declarationuniverselledesdroitsdelarbre.org/global-rights-of-nature-radar/reference/r-53cbc2c70caa32cc4aed33d360d38ae0/ · Last HTTP verification: not performed
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Version aaf643f10d708582 · udtr-reference-1.1.2
- Title
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
- Authors
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
- Year
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
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- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
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- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
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9b2e33a99f8cce9a · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
fdd05c4c20bc97b1 · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
05796d02ccca2b0a · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
aaf643f10d708582 · 2026-11-09T19:04:47.982095+00:00
Research dossiers and documentary relations
National University of Singapore
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Discovery source · https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2601.02773
Discovery source · https://openalex.org/W7118470631
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