The writer is professor of law at Penn State
We don’t know the future, nor how artificial intelligence will affect it. Some believe AI will lead to explosive economic growth, others are convinced it will immiserate all but a select few, while some aver that its economic impact will be marginal.
So how do legislators do their job under such uncertainty? Currently they don’t. They have abrogated their responsibilities to promote the health, safety and welfare of voters through inaction, adopting a wait-and-see approach. If they delay too long, the new technology could have already harmed society and generated new billionaires ready to capture future regulatory processes. Yet regulating too early also has risks, inadvertently hampering innovation.