(When) Should We Delegate AI Governance to AIs? Some Lessons from Administrative Law

Abstract: Advanced AI systems are now being used in AI governance. Practitioners will likely delegate an increasing number of tasks to them as they improve and governance becomes harder. However, using AI for governance risks serious harms because human practitioners may not be able to understand AI decisions or determine whether they are aligned to the user's interests. Delegation may also undermine governance's legitimacy. This paper begins to develop a principled framework for when to delegate AI governance to AIs and when (and how) to maintain human participation. Administrative law, which governs agencies that are (1) more expert in their domains than the legislatures that create them and the courts that oversee them and (2) potentially misaligned to their original goals, offers useful lessons. Administrative law doctrine provides examples of clear, articulated rules for when delegation can occur, what delegation can consist of, and what processes can keep agencies aligned even as they are empowered to achieve their goals. The lessons of administrative law provide a foundation for how AI governance can use AI in a safe, accountable, and effective way.