Distributed ledgers and blockchain technology are widely expected to promote more direct shareholder involvement in corporate governance by reducing costs of voting and trade clearance. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence may shrink the decision-making terrain where corporations rely on human management. This article analyses these technologies and concludes that, while such outcomes are plausible, their potential corporate governance impacts are likely more complex and contingent. Despite the implicit libertarianism that characterises much of the discourse, we in fact have choices to make about how such technologies are developed and deployed – and these policy decisions will have to be grounded in a normative conception of corporate purpose external to the technology itself.

中文翻译：

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分布式账本、人工智能和公司的宗旨

人们普遍预计分布式账本和区块链技术将通过降低投票和交易清算成本来促进股东更直接地参与公司治理。与此同时，人工智能可能会缩小企业依赖人力管理的决策领域。本文分析了这些技术并得出结论，虽然这些结果是合理的，但它们潜在的公司治理影响可能更加复杂和偶然。尽管大部分话语都隐含着自由至上主义，但我们实际上可以选择如何开发和部署这些技术——这些政策决定必须基于技术本身之外的企业目的的规范概念。