Issues

Liability Rules for Autonomous Vehicles: How Traditional Legal Relations Encourage Modern Technological Innovation

As autonomous vehicles (AVs) come into use, lawyers will guide courts’ choice of liability rules, the sanctions that apply when the rules of the road are broken. The best rule for many accidents involving AVs will be strict liability.

Competing in the Age of AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) enables the rapid growth of a new type of firm. Many traditional firms now compete directly with AI-based firms. Business strategies and competitive processes are changing.

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Rules, Standards, and Judicial Discretion

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems will be used by lawmakers and judges to refine and apply the law. Over time, flexible standards will tend to be displaced by precise rules.

Generalizability: Machine Learning and Humans-in-the-Loop

Machine learned-based software increasingly plays a role in key decision-making systems. The software is “trained” using large datasets; designing effective, fair systems that make accurate predictions when applied to new data is challenging.

You Might Be a Robot

Policymakers show increasing interest in regulating robots. However, a "robot" can be hard to define. The increasing pace of innovation makes it hard to apply the plain language of laws to new cases.

Algorithmic Impact Assessments under the GDPR: Producing Multi-layered Explanations

The European Union's General Data Protection Direction (GDPR) addresses concerns with automated decision-making. Impact assessments support both individual privacy rights and oversight of the entire system.

AI and Jobs: The Role of Demand

In recent decades, technology increased productivity but reduced the number of manufacturing jobs. Historically, at times, jobs are gained when productivity improves. If automation increases the demand for a product, automation will increase the number of available jobs in that sector.

Public Policy in an AI Economy

Analysis of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technology emphasizes AI’s effect on jobs. AI systems are likely to displace workers slowly; if so, the overall effect of AI on jobs will be minimal. Some support the idea of a universal basic income to aid workers displaced from jobs by AI.

Artificial Intelligence, Economics, and Industrial Organization

Deployment of artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems will affect the size and choices of firms that provide or use AI services. Economists consider the effects of AI on pricing, firm size, competition, privacy, and security.

Privacy, Algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence

Many economists assume that consumers understand how their data will be used and do not consider how one consumer’s decision to share data affects others. Some artificial intelligence (AI) systems seem to have learned discriminatory behavior, and simplistic models do not address this.