The more "official" and rule-heavy a technical standards group is, the less power it actually has in the real world.
SSRN · March 13, 2026 · 6302398
Why it matters
We usually assume that strict, formal processes make institutions more authoritative. This study finds that for AI, these 'robust' procedures create 'insulated ineffectiveness'—the slow, technocratic pace drives users to switch to less formal, less regulated alternatives, meaning the best-designed standards are the ones nobody uses.
From the abstract
Technical standards are a mechanism for translating high-level aims into implementable practices. However, far from being "neutral" technical documents, it has long been recognised that standards, and the processes to develop them, are political. In this article, we analyse the politics of standards-making for artificial intelligence (AI). Drawing on fifty semi-structured interviews with standards-makers and standards-experts, we assess the political dynamics between AI standards development org