The Constitution In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence: Legal Personhood And Fundamental Rights Of AI
- IJLLR Journal
- Jun 18
- 1 min read
Anushka, Amity University, Noida
ABSTRACT
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) poses profound challenges for constitutional democracies, particularly in defining legal personhood and extending fundamental rights to non-human entities. This paper examines the intersection of AI and Indian constitutional law, tracing the evolution of legal personhood from natural persons to corporations, rivers, and deities, as exemplified by the Uttarakhand High Court’s 2017 recognition of the Ganges and Yamuna as legal persons. It explores whether autonomous AI systems, capable of decision-making, merit similar status, drawing on comparative analysis of American, European, Indian, and international legal frameworks. The study assesses AI’s impact on constitutional principles—equality, liberty, privacy, and dignity— highlighting risks such as algorithmic bias, surveillance, and corporate manipulation that threaten humancentric rights. Instead of granting full AI personhood, it proposes a tiered framework for “conditional personhood” based on functional capabilities, societal impact, and accountability, without assuming moral agency. Grounded in constitutional morality, the paper advocates recalibrating legal frameworks to prioritize transparency, human oversight, and ethical governance, drawing on cases like Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India* to emphasize privacy and fairness. It warns that humanizing AI could erode human rights and exacerbate inequalities, urging a robust AI law to balance innovation with justice. By aligning AI governance with India’s constitutional commitment to equality and dignity, the framework ensures technology strengthens, rather than undermines, the rule of law.
Keywords: Legal Personhood, Constitutional Morality, AI Regulation, Fundamental Rights, Algorithmic Bias, Human-Centric Constitutionalism.
