Measuring DAO Autonomy: Lessons From Other Autonomous Systems

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) have emerged as an interesting new category of software application. Initial applications are disrupting the finance industry, but the technology is not restricted to fintech applications or assets. While other devices or software applications also claim to be autonomous, in many cases there have been levels proposed to scale or categorize the degree of autonomy afforded those applications. This notion of a level of autonomy is particularly important for consumer awareness as these autonomous devices and applications scale out to mass-market services. The societal impact from the operationalization of these technologies can be significant in terms of safety, security, privacy, and the consequences of failures. This article develops a proposed measure of autonomy for DAOs based on the existing legal/financial concept of liabilities.