Abstract

NEOM, Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion megacity, represents a bold experiment in AI-driven governance. Combining an autonomous legal framework with pervasive artificial intelligence, the project aims to optimize urban life and attract global investment. However, its development has involved forced displacement, suppression of dissent, and opaque algorithmic decision-making, raising critical ethical and human rights concerns. NEOM serves as a prototype for a new model of digital authoritarianism, reshaping governance, accountability, and the future of urban life.

Summary

Marketed as a city of the future—sustainable, hyper-connected, and fully automated—NEOM’s iconic component, The Line, will rely on AI to manage transportation, energy, and essential services with minimal human oversight. Beneath this futuristic vision, local communities, including the Howeitat tribe, have faced forced displacement and repression. A bespoke legal framework allows algorithmic enforcement without traditional judicial oversight. While NEOM showcases technological innovation and investment potential, it also highlights the human cost and ethical challenges of AI-enabled governance.

Key Points

1. NEOM as a model for AI governance

• The city is designed to be fully managed by AI systems across urban services, energy, and healthcare.

• It operates under a special legal framework separate from Saudi national law, enabling algorithmic decision-making with limited human oversight.

2. Legal and ethical concerns

• Authorities are granted broad powers while traditional judicial and accountability mechanisms are bypassed.

• This raises the risk of algorithmic authoritarianism, where AI enforces rules and residents cannot appeal decisions.

3. Human cost and social impact

• Local communities, especially the Howeitat tribe, have been forcibly displaced.

• Dissent has been suppressed through arrests, prosecutions, and reported killings, highlighting the gap between NEOM’s “progressive” image and reality.

4. Surveillance and data governance

• NEOM collects extensive personal and behavioral data to optimize city management.

• Despite claims of efficiency, this centralized data collection poses risks for privacy violations, discrimination, and abuse.

5. Implications

• NEOM is both a political and technological experiment.

• It shows how AI and exceptional legal frameworks can consolidate state control, reshape governance, and challenge human rights norms.

The Digital Fortress_ AI, Legal Exceptionalism and the Human Cost of NEOM

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