#15 – Larry Lessig: Code, Law, and Business Models in the Age of AI

My guest today is Larry Lessig, Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Larry is the author of numerous influential books and articles, including Code 2.0 (2006), which we discuss at length in this episode. If you have been listening to Scaling Theory since the very beginning, you probably remember that I cited a couple of books that changed my perception of everything in the first episode. Code 2.0 is one of these books. Larry Lessig develops what he calls the “pathetic dot theory,” in which he explains that all things are influenced by four constraints: the law, economic forces, norms, and architecture. In this conversation, Larry and I talk about the importance of these four constraints in the digital economy and assess which ones have scaled the most in recent years. We also explore how complexity science can contribute to Larry’s theory by seeing the dots and their constraints as a complex network. We then steer our conversation toward open source in AI, examine how regulation at the hardware layer could solve software issues, and consider whether we can trust our institutions and current regulations to do so, or if we need to scale other institutions for that purpose. I hope you enjoy our discussion. References: Code 2.0 (2006) https://lessig.org/product/codev2/ Code (1999) https://lessig.org/product/code/ You can follow me on X (@ProfSchrepel) and BlueSky (@profschrepel) to receive regular updates.

Om Podcasten

Scaling Theory is a podcast dedicated to the power laws behind the growth of companies, technologies, legal and living systems. The host, Dr. Thibault Schrepel, has a PhD in antitrust law and looks at the regulation of digital ecosystems through the lens of complexity theory. The podcast is hosted by the Network Law Review. It features scholarly discussions with select guests and deep dives into the academic literature.