AI, Algorithmic Power and the Law

Why this conference and why now?

The CLAIRE inaugural conference puts a single notion at its centre: algorithmic power. The first day asks about its nature and its legal limits in public administration and in the regulation of AI and data. The second day follows the same power where it is looked for less often: in the operation of autonomous agents, in language models, in the working tools of lawyers, in the administration of justice and in employment relations. The premise is simple: this is one problem seen from two sides. The systems that exercise power over citizens are entering the daily work of lawyers, courts and supervisory authorities, whose task is to keep that power within the limits of the law.

The date falls in a transitional phase in the application of the new legal framework. The transparency obligations under Article 50 of the AI Act have applied since 2 August 2026, and providers of systems generating synthetic content that were placed on the market before that date are bound by Article 50(2) from 2 December 2026. Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the Digital Omnibus on AI, entered into force on 27 July 2026 and postponed the high-risk regime: to 2 December 2027 for systems listed in Annex III, and to 2 August 2028 for systems embedded in regulated products. New prohibitions concerning systems used to generate NCII and CSAM apply from 2 December 2026. At national level, the Polish Act on Artificial Intelligence Systems, promulgated on 27 July 2026, provides the framework for applying the AI Act, with the Commission for the Development and Safety of Artificial Intelligence as the market surveillance authority. The conference falls nine months before 2 December 2027, the date from which the obligations for high-risk systems listed in Annex III apply. The question of what legality means while the law is only partly operative therefore has a practical, and not only a theoretical, sense.

Thematic sessions

Day I, the legality of algorithmic power:

I. What is algorithmic power? A philosophical and sociological account

II. Algorithmic power and its constitutional limits

III. The AI Act and power over infrastructure: is a product-based approach enough?

IV. GDPR for AI: trustworthy artificial intelligence and the autonomy of the data subject

Day II, algorithmic power in practice:

V. AI agents: autonomy, agency, liability

VI. Language models for law: building, evaluation, regulation

VII. LegalTech as power: professional ethics, professionalism and the limits of automation

VIII. AI in the administration of justice: the court, access to legal protection, trust

IX. AI in employment relations: algorithmic management as employer power

Call for papers

Submission deadline: 30 November 2026

Submissions by e-mail only, to: call_claire@wpia.uni.lodz.pl

The organisers invite abstracts assigned to one of the nine thematic sessions. Each session holds five presentations, combining invited lectures with papers selected through the call; the number of places in a session depends on the submissions received. We particularly encourage doctoral candidates and early career researchers, as well as interdisciplinary submissions prepared jointly by scholars of law, philosophy, sociology and computer science. A paper may be presented in Polish or in English.

What to submit:

◆ an abstract of up to 400 words in Polish or English, indicating the session and the language of presentation;

◆ a biographical note of up to 100 words with affiliation.

Further information is available in the attached file.

Submissions are assessed by the Scientific Council of the Conference. Submitting a paper is equivalent to accepting the attached Conference Rules. Information on the processing of personal data attached. The Polish version of the Rules prevails in case of discrepancy.
 

Key dates

◆ Deadline for abstracts: 30 November 2026

◆ Notification of acceptance: 15 December 2026

◆ Publication of the final programme: 20 December 2026

◆ Registration deadline for participants: 26 February 2027

◆ Conference: 4 and 5 March 2027
 

Post-conference publication

Papers presented at the conference will form a peer-reviewed post-conference volume, published by Wolters Kluwer under the conference title. Publication requires that the paper has been presented and that the text receives positive reviews. Texts will be accepted until 30 June 2027.
 

Presentation format

Accepted papers are delivered as 15-minute presentations within the relevant session, and each session closes with 15 minutes of discussion. A presentation may be given in Polish or in English, and the proceedings are interpreted simultaneously. Full texts are not required before the conference.
 

Registration

Participation in the conference is free of charge. Participants register exclusively through the online form. Registration closes on 26 February 2027. The number of places is limited by the capacity of the conference room; places are allocated in the order of registration. Questions about registration: rejestracja_claire@wpia.uni.lodz.pl.

Submitting a registration is equivalent to accepting the Conference Rules. Information on the processing of personal data. The Polish version of the Rules prevails in case of discrepancy.