Deconstructing the Dichotomy: A Critical Look at
AI
's Place in Law
Ahmet Bilal Aytekin Abstract
As part this special issue titled “Law's Rule and the Rule of Law: Critical Dialogues with Gerald J. Postema,” this article addresses the argument Postema makes in chapter 14 of Law's Rule: The Nature, Value, and Viability of the Rule of Law , with its warning of the risks attendant on replacing legal judgment with artificial intelligence. While affirming Postema's concern that AI threatens the deliberative and participatory dimensions of law, the article challenges his strict dichotomy between human and computational reasoning. Drawing on the work of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and contemporary theorists like Grant and Wischik, it argues that machine learning reflects an inductive model of legal prediction already implicit in legal practice. The article explores whether law's normative authority is inherently human or functionally replicable and calls for a more nuanced inquiry into how AI might be integrated into legal systems without eroding their moral and democratic foundations.