Founded in 2020, the CIHG focuses on the complicated and highly entangled relationships between law, technology and society and how these relationships influence our lives.
The use of artificial intelligence for predictive policing or legal decision-making shifts how we perceive the legal system. The use of automated scoring mechanisms to classify people into certain groups influences our behaviour, and the activities of bots in social media changes how we conceive the news.
Those changes spark concerns about threats to our constitutional rights such as the right to data protection or the right to the freedom of expression of opinion.
Yet technological innovations also offer opportunities for constitutional innovation. Just as the deliberate dissemination of fake news can influence the modalities of political campaigns and elections, the same technologies can also encourage political participation. The same may hold true for legal tech: the robot-judge might not be moody, as breakfast does not influence machines.
| Director | Professor Iris Eisenberger |
| Hub & Project Manager | Annemarie Hofer |
| Research Manager | Iris Eisenberger, Thomas Buocz, Annemarie Hofer, Nikolaus Poechhacker |
| Further Positions | Partners, Research Associates, Fellows, Students |
CIHG organizational chart
Technological innovation
Technological innovation in contemporary legal and political institutions shifts the way our society is configured. The interplay between political communication, rule of law and the definition of a technological condition has major influence on societies' constitution.
However, none of those elements can be understood in isolation. Instead, they are tightly entangled with each other as practically achieved and collectively imagined Living Constitutions.
Strictly disciplinary perspectives and approaches to this complex environment seem unfitting.
Therefore, the CIHG aims to work within the triangle of law, technology, and society as a flexible platform with diverse members and a broad know-how spectrum.
The hub is financed by the University of Graz and is part of the Department Prof. Iris Eisenberger, Institute of Public Law and Political Science.