Issues

How Innovative Are Innovations? A Multidimensional, Survey-Based Approach

Innovation can be difficult to measure, and some major technical advances have less impact on social welfare than expected. Surveys of innovation should consider five key factors in assessing the importance of an innovation.

Reforming the Patent System

Three tailored patent reforms would improve the patent system without requiring more evidence as to whether stronger patent protection promotes innovation generally.

Nascent Competitors

Large incumbent firms may take steps to eliminate innovative nascent competitors, either by merger or by excluding them from the market.

Privacy Regulation and Innovation Policy

Some claim that privacy regulation threatens innovation, but regulation is appropriate to correct market failures. Privacy regulation could help align markets and ensure that innovation is consistent with social values.

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.

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.

Prediction, Judgment, and Complexity: A Theory of Decision Making and Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) raises the possibility that machines will substitute for humans. AI improves the accuracy of predictions, but when a prediction cannot be made with absolute certainty, judgment is needed to choose the best course of action. Judgment can sometimes be automated.

Deep Fakes: A Looming Challenge for Privacy, Democracy, and National Security

"Deep fake" technology makes it possible to create audio and video files of real people saying and doing things they never said or did. These technologies create policy and legal problems. Possible responses include technological solutions, criminal and civil liability, and regulation.

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.