Le Grand Cheval, an Artistic Critique of the Perception and Regulation of AI

AI, especially generative AI, is presented as a world-changing phenomenon. However, AI is not an inert new technology but an epistemological factor that can actively influence the attribution of legitimacy and authority to political and legal institutions. To investigate how AI might affect this legitimacy, we must gain insight into perceptions of technology and AI and how AI might affect them. This essay takes a law and humanities perspective and uses a piece of art on technology to better understand the human relationship to technology. The essay uses the futurist sculpture entitled Le Grand Cheval by Duchamp-Villon to illustrate and construct its argument. After a general overview of AI and its potential implications for legitimacy, the essay reviews the headlines of the current EU legal framework on AI. It then discusses perceptions of AI. The essay concludes that the regulation may fall short of its promise to protect citizens from arbitrary and unaccountable domination by AI.