How to regulate AI without stifling innovation

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The biggest challenge with artificial intelligence is that we don’t have enough yet. Regulation should aim to help solve this problem.

AI could turbocharge the many advanced economies grappling with slow productivity growth. But the technology is still developing, and the European Union’s heavy-handed AI rules have impeded progress there. As the U.S.

debates regulation, we should avoid those mistakes by following six principles: First, balance benefits and risks. This may sound obvious, but many regulatory enthusiasts ignore the technology’s benefits out of an overabundance of caution and instead support delaying AI until it is proven absolutely safe. Cost-benefit analysis requires regulators to think not only about the risks of AI but also the risks from slower AI development, such as more cancer deaths because of delayed drug discovery, worse educational outcomes because students lack personalized digital tutors, more car accidents because of delays in self-driving cars, and worse climate change because of a slowdown in discovering better materials for grid-level battery storage.

Second, compare AI with humans, not to the Almighty. Yes, autonomous cars crash—but how do they compare with human drivers? AI may show biases, but how do these stack up against human prejudices? In some cases, it might even be acceptable for AI to perform slightly worse than humans if it offers significant convenience and has greater potential for improvement over time, as we have seen with autonomous vehicles. AI is learning much faster than humans are and the future gains this learning will generate belong on the benefit side of the ledger.