The Artificial State: A Genealogy of Automatocracy

The text analyzes the concept of the Artificial State, understood not as a government of robots, but as a system in which computational infrastructure takes over the functions of recognizing reality and classifying citizens. The author points to the birth of automatocracy—a form of infrastructural power that, instead of issuing direct orders, shapes the decision-making environment through algorithms and optimization models. The key problem is the transition from Weberian procedural rationality, based on norms and law, to predictive-optimization rationality. In this new model, decisions do not result from the interpretation of regulations but from statistical probability, which fundamentally changes the relationship between the state and the citizen, limiting the possibility of controlling and justifying administrative decisions.