Across the world, governments are grappling with the regulatory burden of managing their citizens' daily lives. Driven by cost-cutting and efficiency goals, they have turned to artificial intelligence and automation to assist in high-volume decision-making. Yet the implementation of these technologies has caused significant harm and major scandals. Combatting the Code analyzes the judicial, political, managerial, and regulatory controls for automated government decision-making in three Western liberal democracies: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Yee-Fui Ng develops a technological governance framework of ex ante and ex post controls within an interlinking network of horizontal and vertical accountability mechanisms, which aims to prevent future disasters and safeguard vulnerable individuals subject to automated technologies. Ng provides recommendations for regulators and policymakers seeking to design automated governance systems that will promote higher standards of accountability, transparency, and fairness.

‘This important book shows how the automation of government is proceeding apace but very often to the detriment of its supposed beneficiaries. As an antidote to the ‘fetishization of technology', Ng constructs a comprehensive and compelling framework for rights-enhancing tech governance.

Philip Alston - New York University, Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights

‘Combatting the Code is essential reading on the future of governance. Ng skillfully explores why AI is so appealing to politicians and bureaucrats, and the many ways it can go wrong. Based on a remarkable comparative study of AI law and policy in several jurisdictions, she proposes a suite of legal, political and managerial controls designed to make automated decision-making fairer and more accountable. This is exactly the type of research, both cosmopolitan and grounded, needed to advance best practices in digital administration.'

Frank Pasquale - Cornell University

‘The advent of AI has had significant implications on all branches of law. Yee-Fui Ng's book is a valuable contribution to the literature. The comparative law focus on the public law of the USA, UK and Australia is rich, insightful and illuminating.'

Paul Craig - Emeritus Professor of English Law, St John's College, Oxford University

‘Government use of automated decision-making has inflicted widespread harm on vulnerable citizens in many countries due to inadequate regulatory, legal, administrative and ethical checks and balances. Yee-Fui Ng's rigorous comparative analysis in this book provides a sophisticated and insightful understanding of these problems and offers groundbreaking solutions.'

Terry Carney - University of Sydney