Wise Contracts: Smart Contracts that Work for People and Machines

Abstract

Modern economies are held together by innumerable contracts. However, current contracts are neither machine-readable nor easily human-readable. The Ricardian Contract paradigm of parameters, prose and code posits a hybrid model of automation and conventional legal text. This paper connects recent work on design criteria for 'Smart Contract Templates' with prose objects and prototype inheritance demonstrated at CommonAccord. Templates authored and shared as prose objects can become the basis for automation, codification, commentary, big data analysis and graphic presentations.