Emergent Digital (Dis-)Orders: AI Governance between Liberal and Authoritarian Scripts is the title of the new SCRIPTS Forum dedicated to understanding how artificial intelligence and digital technologies are transforming global political order. AI is not merely a technical innovation but a political instrument: depending on how it is governed, it can promote transparency, participation, and democratic accountability, or enable surveillance, manipulation, and authoritarian control.

The Forum takes a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to examine how liberal and authoritarian systems develop, regulate, and deploy AI. Focusing on cases such as China, the United States, and Europe, it explores how political institutions, normative frameworks, and governance structures shape the societal effects of digital technologies. Particular attention is paid to the increasingly blurred boundaries between liberal and authoritarian uses of AI, including tensions around regulation, public trust, participation, and control.

Through lecture series, workshops, policy simulations, collaborative research projects, and public outreach activities, the Forum brings together scholars, students, policymakers, and practitioners. By combining academic research with public dialogue, it aims to advance understanding of AI governance while fostering informed debate on the political, social, and ethical implications of digital technologies.