Journal article
Digital Monsters: Reconciling AI Narratives as Investigations of Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligence
Law, Technology and Humans, Vol.8(2), pp.37-49
2026
Abstract
Cultural legal investigations of the nexus between law, culture and society are crucial for developing our understanding of how the relationships between humans and artificially intelligent entities (AIE) will evolve along with the technology itself. However, narratives of artificial intelligence (AI) have been much debated as a source of investigation for the functioning of human–AI relationships within law and society, with some scholars arguing that these texts are essential and others maintaining that AI narratives are illusory as to the practical operation of AI. This article resolves the discrepancies between these seemingly opposing viewpoints. A cultural legal reading of the updated anime series Digimon Adventure (2020) enables a reconciliation of the use of AI narratives as a method of scholarly interpellation of human–AI interactions. Utilising the theory of legal personhood, this reading proposes that AIE form legal and social relations not as a legal person or as a tool, but rather as a monster on a spectrum in between. Reading the contexts of legal personhood through the text of Digimon Adventure allows for a more nuanced understanding of these relationships and interactions as AI evolves.
Details
- Title
- Digital Monsters: Reconciling AI Narratives as Investigations of Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligence
- Authors
- Quinn Edwards (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
- Publication details
- Law, Technology and Humans, Vol.8(2), pp.37-49
- Publisher
- Queensland University of Technology
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.5204/lthj.3856
- ISSN
- 2652-4074
- Copyright note
- Except where otherwise noted, content in this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. As an open access journal, articles are free to use with proper attribution.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991183145402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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