Podcast: AI Policy and Innovation — Second interview with Adam Thierer

SHOW SUMMARY: Ron and Ed welcome Back Adam Thierer, now with the R Street Institute, to talk about government regulation and AI. Adam has written extensively about how government regulation potentially affects the progress of innovation, especially with regard to new technology. This episode promises to be a wide-ranging and timely conversation.

SHOW NOTES

Segment one

• The California legislature passed Senate Bill 1047 but Newson vetoed it. Adam argues that this was probably one of the five most important moments in digital technology policy developments. 
• Adam has noted that the most important principle for AI regulation is not stifling it. He hasn’t just noted it. He writes extensively about it. More here: https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/the-most-important-principle-for-ai-regulation/ 
• “The AI regulation argument is more important than previous technologies because it’s not just about information and communications technology. It’s also about broad based autonomous systems, robotics, machine learning, data science, quantum computing and a whole host of other things.” —Adam Thierer

Segment two

• “Economists, politicians, political scientists and business theorists don’t usually agree on much, but they do agree that technological innovation is widely considered the main source of economic progress.” —Adam Thierer
• On the second segment today, Adam made a STRONG argument for how commercial drones are an example of an autonomous system that we’ve gotten very wrong in the regulatory environment.
• If you have not read one of Adam’s books yet, read this: “When my Permissionless Innovation book came out, I said you have this choice between permissionless innovation or the precautionary principle. More here: https://www.amazon.com/Permissionless-Innovation-Continuing-Comprehensive-Technological/dp/0989219348 
• “You can’t even name a company that is a digital innovator in Europe today. So it’s a powerful example of how laws and policy defaults matter deeply for innovative outcomes.” —Adam Thierer

Segment three

• “The freedom to code, the freedom to compute and the freedom to innovate should represent America’s default policy. We must have a marketplace that is driven by a vision from our policy leaders that embraces the freedom to innovate.” —Adam Thierer
• “One of the most interesting things about technology law in general is that the best types of remedies or agencies are those that are more general in character as opposed to specific in some ways.” —Adam Thierer
• Fun fact about the regulatory capture environment at the Federal level: The first time the Food and Drug Administration started looking at regulating computer health was in 1981. Nineteen eighty one!!!
• This was a GREAT quip from Adam about how regulation can become overbearing: “Are we going to have to go to our HOA and say, ‘Can I code today?’”  

Segment four

• Here’s a great article from Adam that we talked about today on the 4th segment of the show: “Eurocrats plot to hobble US AI leadership on our own shores” https://thehill.com/opinion/4904165-europe-eu-regulation-tech/ 
• “The Policy Origins of the Digital Revolution & the Continuing Case for the Freedom to Innovate” https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/the-policy-origins-of-the-digital-revolution-the-continuing-case-for-the-freedom-to-innovate/ 
• “California Rejects AI Regulatory Extremism” https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/california-rejects-ai-regulatory-extremism/ 
• A big THANK YOU to Adam Thierer for joining us today. Adam is a senior fellow for the Technology & Innovation team at R Street. More information about his work at this link https://www.rstreet.org/people/adam-thierer/