LEGAL PERSONHOOD BEYOND THE ELECTRONIC PERSON DEBATE: A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH TO AI SUBJECTHOOD
Identification
- Public canonical key
- doi:10.69953/nurs.v10i4.648
- Authors
- Sudhakar Yadav · Nabila Zehra
- Reported year
- 2026
- Reported language
- en
- Source type
- article
- First detected
- 2026-11-09T19:04:47.534554+00:00
- Last metadata observation
- 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
- Last HTTP verification
- Not checked
Institutions reported by the source
Indian Law Institute · University of Delhi
Reported affiliation countries
IN
Documentary abstract — original language
Debates on whether artificial intelligence (hereafter, AI) should be recognized as a ‘legal person’ often force regulators into a false binary choice, i.e., either grant AI full human-like status (which risks absurdity) or treat it as mere property (which creates liability gaps). This article argues that this all or nothing approach stalls necessary regulation. Drawing on Visa Kurki’s ‘Bundle Theory,’ the authors propose the ‘Legal Platform’ as a necessary evolutionary step toward potential personhood. Just as corporate personhood evolved over centuries from simple property holding bodies to rights bearing entities, AI personhood must begin with a functional ‘platform’, which is a distinct legal structure bundling mandatory insurance, registration, and guardianship. We stress test this model against the failures of ‘performative personhood’ (such as the robot Sophia) and successful non-human frameworks (like New Zealand’s Whanganui River). The article concludes that before we can grant AI full moral personhood, we must first build its legal skeleton, which is, a mandatory liability platform that ensures safety, solvency, and accountability without committing to immediate human-level rights.
Identifiers
- OPENALEX
- W7129509929
- DOI
- 10.69953/nurs.v10i4.648
Documentary context
- Documentary family
- Scholarship
- Source-reported types
- article
- Natural entities mentioned
- River
Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.
Sources
OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2
Documented bibliographic relations
Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.
1 incoming references within the detected corpus
Documentary field provenance
Source-backed values and values with unresolved provenance are kept separately. Bibliographic provenance validates no legal claim.
- Title
- Documentary source reported
- Publication
- Documentary source reported
- Authors
- Documentary source reported
- Document type
- Documentary source reported
- Jurisdiction
- Not recorded
- Court
- Not recorded
- Issuing authority
- Not recorded
- Publisher
- Not recorded
- DOI
- Documentary source reported
- ISBN
- Not recorded
- Official identifier
- Not recorded
- Source URL
- Documentary source reported
- Source-reported status
- Not recorded
- Amendment / repeal
- Not recorded
Cite this reference
Sudhakar Yadav; Nabila Zehra. LEGAL PERSONHOOD BEYOND THE ELECTRONIC PERSON DEBATE: A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH TO AI SUBJECTHOOD. 2026. https://doi.org/10.69953/nurs.v10i4.648
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APA, Chicago, ISO 690: bibliographic formats using available fields. OSCOLA / Bluebook: structured data only; full legal citation compliance is not claimed without verification of required elements.
- APA
- Sudhakar Yadav; Nabila Zehra. (2026). LEGAL PERSONHOOD BEYOND THE ELECTRONIC PERSON DEBATE: A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH TO AI SUBJECTHOOD. https://doi.org/10.69953/nurs.v10i4.648
- Chicago
- Sudhakar Yadav; Nabila Zehra. LEGAL PERSONHOOD BEYOND THE ELECTRONIC PERSON DEBATE: A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH TO AI SUBJECTHOOD. 2026. https://doi.org/10.69953/nurs.v10i4.648
- ISO 690
- Sudhakar Yadav; Nabila Zehra. LEGAL PERSONHOOD BEYOND THE ELECTRONIC PERSON DEBATE: A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH TO AI SUBJECTHOOD. 2026. https://doi.org/10.69953/nurs.v10i4.648
UDTR Global Rights of Nature Legal Library. LEGAL PERSONHOOD BEYOND THE ELECTRONIC PERSON DEBATE: A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH TO AI SUBJECTHOOD. Documentary record: https://www.declarationuniverselledesdroitsdelarbre.org/global-rights-of-nature-radar/reference/r-8d7882ff234eb79b31691fc4b205bbda/ · Last HTTP verification: not performed
Field provenance and record version
Version 4f418a4b022023d3 · udtr-reference-1.1.2
- Title
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
- Authors
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
- Year
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
- Identifiers
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
- Source URL
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
- Source-reported author ORCID
- OpenAlex · source · 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
History tracks record metadata and does not certify the state of the law.
cc98886fc84c75bd · 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
76fdce888f369aa6 · 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
b31f658623ff5406 · 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
4f418a4b022023d3 · 2026-11-09T19:18:05.536323+00:00
Research dossiers and documentary relations
Source roles
Discovery source · https://doi.org/10.69953/nurs.v10i4.648
Discovery source · https://openalex.org/W7129509929
An authority link alone does not verify a legal claim. Abstracts and full texts remain subject to their source terms.
Documentary status
Relevance pending
Library
This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.