Author: СИТНИКОВ МАКСИМ СЕРГЕЕВИЧ / SITNIKOV MAXIM SERGEEVICH
Introduction
The relevance of this work is due to the following circumstance. Today's world can be called the time of digital technologies. Digital technologies are being implemented everywhere in different spheres of our life. In modern digital realities, artificial intelligence technologies can significantly facilitate human life. According to the author of this work, the existence of the future economic and legal reality will largely depend on the degree of development and application of artificial intelligence technologies. It seems that artificial intelligence will become a vital necessity not only in primitive affairs (household life, cafe staff, secretaries, etc.), but also in more global activities (government, economic regulation, legislation, etc.).
The author considers it important to indicate that within the framework of this work, artificial intelligence is nothing more than a high-tech program. It is impossible to talk about any signs of an independent subject of law, which the European Parliament mentioned in 2017. Despite the existence of discussions in legal science regarding the legal personality of artificial intelligence (three possible development options), the author adheres to the position that it is actually impossible to recognize the program as a subject of law.
The purpose of this work is to identify common intersectoral prospects for the use of artificial intelligence in the future economic and legal reality of Russia. Based on this, the author identified, in particular, the following tasks: to determine the role of law in the future economy of Russia, to identify the criterion of professions that disappeared in the future, to determine the role of artificial intelligence in the real and virtual worlds, to formulate the main prospects for the development of the national metaverse of Russia.
The object of this work is presented in the form of a set of social relations that develop in different spheres of life when using artificial intelligence technologies. In this regard, the subject of this study is the norms of progressive legislation, as well as the provisions of the doctrine. As research methods, the author used, among others, the following: formal-legal (when interpreting the norms of law), comparative-legal (when referring to foreign experience), analysis (when explaining the essence of phenomena), historical (when studying the legal status of cryptocurrencies at different stages of time).
Since we are talking about the distant future (there are not so many scientific papers), it is very likely that the ideas presented in this paper will enjoy high theoretical significance. Moreover, the conclusions noted in the conclusion have practical significance and, consequently, their implementation will have a positive impact on the development of the economic and legal reality of the future Russia.
Chapter 1. Areas of use of artificial intelligence technologies in the real (physical) world
§1. Creativity is the basis of human activity of the future
In the existing intersectoral research, one of the main issues of economic development is the possibility of replacing people as workers in various fields of activity. In the doctrine (as well as in the vastness of the world Wide Web), different points of view are expressed on this issue. According to the author of this work, in the future many professions that people perform today will disappear. The implementation of such professions can be ensured through the functioning of robots. This process is inevitable if humanity wants to move along the path of development. To some extent, an analogy can be drawn here with the industrial Revolution.
One of the reasons for replacing real people with artificial intelligence technologies lies in the very essence of the latter. As noted in the doctrine, one of the main features of artificial intelligence technology is its autonomy, which is expressed in the ability to perform some permanent function without human participation. Consequently, those professions whose basis is the repeatability of processes are subject to imminent disappearance. Such professions include, in particular, cleaners, sellers, drivers, movers, deliverymen.
As you can see, this list of professions does not require any special knowledge for the work performed. It is impossible to say that people who have some kind of education (specialized secondary or higher) they will not be left without a workplace. It will be possible to replace many people from special fields of activity with robots (this is how it will happen). As an example, the author wishes to indicate the sphere of jurisprudence in some of its areas:
1) Lawyers in the field of contract law. Economic interaction at any time (future, present or past) is not complete without establishing legal ties, which is ensured by the construction of the contract. In the future, many inherently simple contractual structures (purchase and sale of a car or some real estate, rent, donation, etc.) will exist only in the form of a smart contract created by an artificial intelligence program at the request of people. To some extent, artificial intelligence will be effectively used in the preparation of other legally significant documents (applications, petitions, lawsuits, etc.);
2) Bailiffs. The main and most common function of enforcement agencies is to search for funds or property of the debtor in order to transfer them to the account of an unfulfilled or improperly fulfilled obligation to the creditor. It is quite advisable in the future to completely entrust this process to an artificial intelligence program, which itself, based on the algorithms embedded in it, will search for and execute a court decision;
3) Clerks of court sessions. In accordance with the procedural legislation, the secretaries of court sessions are obliged to prepare the case for the hearing, send correspondence to the participants in the case, keep a record, etc. In the future, it would be more effective to entrust the work of the secretary entirely to artificial intelligence;
4) A court litigator for simple cases. Some categories of cases (collection of payments, imposition of fines, etc.) do not always require significant knowledge and effort from a person. Sometimes this process is autonomous (permanent and unchangeable). The embedded digital code in the program will allow, according to keywords in legislation and judicial practice, to successfully defend the interests of people at a price significantly lower than that set by a real lawyer. Today , there are the first beginnings of this direction .
The author of this work can formulate other possible cases when artificial intelligence can replace a person not only in legal, but also in other professional activities. However, it is impractical to do this based on the requirements for the volume of work.
The scenario described to some extent causes a feeling of fear that robots will completely and everywhere replace humans. No, we are not talking about such categoricality. It should be borne in mind that the difference between artificial intelligence and man is the presence of consciousness in the latter, which allows him to think creatively. Despite all possible scenarios for the development of creativity in the program based on the famous films "Bicentennial Man" or "I am a robot", there can be no question of any true creativity. Creativity, being a consequence of conscious activity, is the prerogative of only a person.
Consequently, the criterion of the need for human activity lies in the level of development of his creative activity. In each profession, you can see the notes of creativity. For example, technology will never be able to fully replace a person as a judge, lawyer, doctor, teacher and representatives of many other professions. Especially characteristic is the manifestation of creative abilities in persons who are engaged or wish to engage in entrepreneurial activity. Thus, in the future world, a key role in development should be given to creativity, which only a person can realize.
§2. Responsibility for the behavior of artificial intelligence
The mechanism of responsibility (legal responsibility) plays an important role in the development of economic relations, which is to encourage participants in public relations to behave in good faith. Without proper regulation of the institution of responsibility, it is difficult to imagine the normal functioning of the economy. Since artificial intelligence is a program, we can talk about a specific kind of goods that are purchased by certain persons. As you know, the product may have some disadvantages, which is expressed in violation of the rights of the acquirer.
Since a failure in the work of artificial intelligence leads to a violation of rights (sometimes extremely significant), it seems reasonable to depict two simple possible future options, implemented jointly, of responsibility for the behavior of robots. The criterion for dividing responsibility lies in the purpose of use: consumer or business purpose (by analogy with the Law of the Russian Federation "On Consumer Rights Protection").
The first option arises in cases where the buyer is a consumer within the meaning of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Consumer Rights Protection". In other words, when acquiring artificial intelligence technology for purposes not related to the implementation of entrepreneurial activity, the responsibility for the choice of the consumer is assigned either to the seller or to the direct developer. The distinction between the seller and the developer is not made in vain, because the seller is not always the developer. There may be situations in which the seller purchased the goods for his own sale on the market.
The second option is associated with situations in which technology is acquired for the purpose of doing business, that is, for its further use as an object of profit. In this case, it would be more expedient, as a general rule, to place the burden of responsibility on the seller. Nevertheless, the principle of freedom of contract will allow for a different procedure formulated by the parties.
Chapter 2. Areas of use of artificial intelligence technologies in the virtual economic space (metaverse)
§1. Metaverse – the future of the Internet system
The modern functioning of the Internet system successfully allows its users to satisfy a wide variety of legitimate needs (earnings, games, dating, etc.). It seems that despite all its current development of the Internet system, it is still difficult to talk about a separate economy on the Internet. To date, the issue of the development of a new form of economic space in the metaverses (the next stage in the development of ICT "Internet") is actively being worked out. Most accurately, the essence of the metaverses can be denoted as follows. The metaverse is understood as a scalable and compatible network of 3D virtual worlds visualized in real time, which can be accessed synchronously and continuously by an almost unlimited number of users with an individual sense of presence and continuity of data, such as identity, history, rights, objects, communications and payments. In other words, the metaverse is a kind of online multiplayer game in which users can interact with themselves and the in–game infrastructure through their avatars. At the same time, cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins, with a blockchain system are the initial basis for metaverses.
Moreover, the analysis of foreign studies shows that the first prototypes of metaverses ("The sandbox", "Otherside", "Decentraland", etc.) for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2022 continues to gain momentum. In this regard, in some jurisdictions, attention is drawn to the need to regulate social relations arising in the metaverses from the point of view of law. For example, not so long ago, the European Union discussed the need for legal regulation of relations in the metaverse (competition, personal data, contract law, etc.). To some extent, the position of Chinese legal scholars looks similar, who believe that all the necessary legal conditions for the development of their own economy should be created in the metaverse (the national metaverse of China). Also, trends in the development of metaverses are observed in the UAE, South Korea, Mexico, etc. The question of the development of the national metaverse has not bypassed Russia either (the first rudiments are already there today).
The peculiarities of the national metaverse are determined by two factors: the centralization of management (under the control of the state), as well as the need to access it only through automated systems. According to the author of this work, for the first time, the Gosulugi service will act as such an automated platform. As the author of the work sees it, it would be quite natural to use biometric data to enter the platform (palm print, retina, etc.).
In the long-term future, the formed metaverse economy will be one of the foundations of the entire national economy. The reasons for this lie in the undeniable advantages of virtual space: significant time savings (it is enough to have a VR device), ease of use, lack of routine work, transparency of the platform, huge functionality of the platform, etc.
At the same time, the benefits of such a vision of the future are relevant not only for users, but also for the state itself, since its main role is reduced to the general regulation of the internal economic process using artificial intelligence technologies. Using various artificial intelligence technologies, the state will initially create a reference system (a kind of vacuum), within which users build an economy. It should be borne in mind that in order to develop the intra–universe economic space, the state puts the freedom of users at the forefront, since it is freedom (not to compare with anarchy) that is the main attribute of economic development. To some extent, the concept of a digital state controlled by artificial intelligence technologies will be implemented. The concept of a digital state will be successfully used not only as a management tool of the metaverse, but also as a virtual center for the provision of state and municipal services. In other words, in the virtual space itself, the user can use the service of receiving such services (payment of fees, receipt of documents, etc.).
Thus, in the future, one of the pillars of the development of the ecosystem of Russia will depend on the activity of users within the national virtual space, which is the metaverse.
§2. The role of law in the economic development of the virtual economy. Some directions for the legal development of the national metaverse of Russia
In legal science, it is noted that objective law exists for the existence of only one purpose, which is to ensure the protection and protection of subjective rights. In legal science, the distinction between these categories is known. The protection of rights is a normal state of public relations in which subjective rights are not violated. The protection of rights arises in cases when the subjective right itself is violated.
As it seems to the author of the work, within the framework of the virtual space, the function of protecting the rights and freedoms of users could be entrusted to artificial intelligence technologies. It was said above that the future metaverse of Russia is a kind of virtual centralized vacuum. The functioning of this vacuum is provided by artificial intelligence technologies. The protection of the right presupposes a favorable and safe exercise of the rights of users. Therefore, it would be logical to say that the artificial intelligence system itself is a kind of digital guarantee of the exercise of rights.
Cases of the use of artificial intelligence in the protection of rights look more complicated. When protecting rights, a law enforcement body (for example, a court) is involved in the case. According to the author of this work, in some situations it is possible to replace the court itself. One of the types of judicial proceedings is the issuance of a court order. Summarizing the process of implementing the issuance of a court order, we can say that when a judge receives an application for the issuance of a court order, he must make sure that the following circumstances exist: the relevance of the stated requirement to writ proceedings; the presence of the legal personality and (or) the powers of the applicant; the presence of the necessary evidence.
The indisputability of writ proceedings means that applications for the issuance of a court order are confirmed by such evidence that, as a general rule, it is impossible to challenge. It can also be said that cases on the issuance of a court order are inherently typical (the content of the application for the issuance of a court order, the evidence base, etc.). Based on these characteristics of writ proceedings, it would be possible to entrust justice in such cases to artificial intelligence.
Moreover, the development of the virtual economy will inevitably cause transformations of some legal institutions. For example, this concerns the tax law. It is assumed that the economic basis of the national metaverse of Russia will be the digital ruble. The concept of the digital ruble will make it possible to identify their owners as potential taxpayers. At the same time, when levying a tax, it would be quite reasonable to use artificial intelligence technologies in the following way. This is especially true for income received as a result of entrepreneurial activity. Each business entity will have to have a digital wallet (settlement account), which will receive digital rubles. It would be advisable at the time of receipt of digital funds to the account of a business entity to automatically transfer part of these funds to the budget account as a tax payment. According to the author of this work, it is quite possible to correlate this decision with different special tax regimes. This approach will achieve the following goals:
1) The inability to hide digital money;
2) Reduction of the volume of work performed by the tax authorities;
3) Reduce the burden of tax liability on the part of users of the national metaverse.
Another area of legal development is related to personal data. The virtual world itself involves storing a large amount of data. Within the framework of the metaverse of Russia, such data can include biometrics, passwords, the avatars of the metaverses themselves, etc. Storing all this data is another prerogative of artificial intelligence technology. A reliable autonomous system will allow avoiding possible adverse consequences – for example, cyber attacks.
The next area of modernization of legal regulation is related to intellectual property law. The importance of regulating this area is determined by creativity, which, as noted earlier, is the main vector of entrepreneurial activity in the metaverse. Sometimes the doctrine suggests the existence of a new digital art in the form of NFT . In this regard, attention should be paid to the issue of creating NFT by neural network (which may also be the result of intellectual activity), which is currently possible through the digital code embedded in the program (not the program itself generates the process, but its digital code created by a person). As it seems to the author of the work, in this case there are three possible scenarios regarding the determination of the authorship of the NFT.
The first scenario is the simplest, in which the neural network is owned by its developer. Therefore, the author should be recognized as the developer of the program. Another option is related to the fact that the rights to the neural network were transferred to another person under a contract. In this case, it seems correct to say that, as a general rule, the copyright is recognized for the actual copyright holder of the program (by analogy with the fruits obtained under the lease agreement). It is possible that the contract may provide for a different mechanism in terms of the right of authorship to the NFT created by the program. The third scenario is possible when a user interacts with a metaverse and a neural network to create an NFT. Suppose there is a separate service (artificial intelligence) in the metaverse that helps users create NFT. For example, the user sets certain parameters, and the neural network formulates an NFT based on this. According to the author of this work, the user of the metaverse should be recognized as the author, since it is from him that the idea of creating an NFT comes (he sets the parameters of the work). In this situation, the neural network acts only as a tool that is used by a person.
It is impossible not to mention some transformation of contract law. As noted earlier, in the virtual space, the only way to ensure the transition of digital goods is to conclude a contract based on the smart contract model. The doctrine notes that the smart contract itself is a contract, the basis of which is not letters on paper, but a special digital code. Despite the simplicity and convenience of using a smart contract, this model itself is not ideal. Thus, German scientists point out that the main problem when concluding a contract in the form of a smart contract is its language, which is not always clear to the counterparty - especially to consumers. In the future, it would be possible to use artificial intelligence technologies to translate a digital language into the language chosen by the user (by analogy with existing online translators).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the author considers it necessary to briefly outline the conclusions reached by the results of this scientific research:
1. In the future, many professions that exist today will be performed not by people, but by robots, since the autonomy and continuity of their work is much more efficient. At the same time, we cannot talk about the complete seizure of all jobs by robots. The main criterion for determining a person as an employee is the degree of development of his creativity. Only a creative person can find a place for himself in the future world of digital technologies;
2. The ubiquity of artificial intelligence technologies cannot be imagined without the proper functioning of the mechanism of responsibility for the harm caused by artificial intelligence. The most optimal option is to share the risks of responsibility depending on the purpose of acquiring the technology. If the buyer is a consumer who uses the technology for purposes unrelated to the implementation of entrepreneurial activity, then the responsibility is assigned to the developer or the direct seller (sometimes it is not the same person) at the discretion of the consumer. In all other cases, as a general rule, the responsibility is assigned to the seller, unless a different procedure is provided for by the agreement between the parties;
3. Most of the economic relations between the participants will arise within the virtual space (the national metaverse of Russia). The peculiarity of the Russian metaverse is due to two circumstances: its management is carried out by the state itself in the physical world through the use of artificial intelligence technologies, and user authorization (for the purposes of ensuring sovereignty) will be provided through an automated system – in the future, the modernized Gosulugi service;
4. The protection of the rights and freedoms of users in the virtual space will be ensured through the functioning of artificial intelligence technologies. In some cases, it is possible to formulate cases when the direct protection of the rights and freedoms of users is the prerogative of artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, the economic development of new metaverse relations will affect some legal institutions, among which it is worth highlighting tax law, intellectual property law, contract law, Big data. In order not to abuse the requirement for the volume of this work, it was not about all the necessary transformations in the legal field that affected institutions such as, for example, competition, labor law, social security law.