Regulating Artificial Intelligence in Brazil: the contributions of critical social theory to rethink principles

Abstract

This essay discusses how critical social theory in Brazil can contribute to a revision of dominant approaches to AI regulation and a regulatory strategy focused on innovation, legal certainty, and economic development in Brazil. We explain the origins of the Brazilian Draft Bill on Artificial Intelligence Regulation and the main critiques during the discussions at the legislative houses in 2022. We argue that critical social theory can enlarge the discussion about which should be the regulatory goals of such legislation. Critical theory helps envision new principles that are connected to the structural problems of post-colonial societies. We intend to advance the project of enlarging the epistemologies of the South and expanding the view of Global Data Justice that relates to the social theory developed in the South.