Algorithms, Regulation, and Governance Readiness

Abstract

Taking the UK as its subject of analysis, this chapter asks how prepared public administrators and political leaders are for the challenges of algorithmic decision-making and artificial intelligence: in other words, what is the state of governance readiness? It begins by examining the literature on governance readiness and administrative capacity. It considers whether this literature is adequate to the task of identifying such capacity issues in a context where the discourse is dominated by the larger technology companies, and raises the question of whether ‘discursive capacity’ is a requirement for governance readiness in this area. It then sets out evidence from empirical research on algorithmic harms and the consideration given to these issues in the political sphere. The chapter then discusses the state of administrative capacity at multiple levels of governance in the UK and concludes by setting out questions to guide further research.