On Thursday, June 9, it was my great pleasure to return to my first work office at the Adam Smith Institute in London and give a talk on the future of innovation policy and the governance of artificial intelligence. James Lawson, who is affiliated with the ASI and wrote a wonderful 2020 study on AI policy, introduced me and also offered some remarks. Among the issues discussed:

• What sort of governance vision should govern the future of innovation generally and AI in particular: the “precautionary principle” or “permissionless innovation”?
• Which AI sectors are witnessing the most exciting forms of innovation currently?
• What are the fundamental policy fault lines in the AI policy debates today?
• Will fears about disruption and automation lead to a new Luddite movement?
• How can “soft law” and decentralized governance mechanism help us solve pressing policy concerns surrounding AI?
• How did automation affect traditional jobs and sectors?
• Will the European Union’s AI Act become a global model for regulation and will it have a “Brussels Effect” in terms of forcing innovators across the world to come into compliance with EU regulatory mandates?
• How will global innovation arbitrage affect the efforts by governments in Europe and elsewhere to regulate AI innovation?
• Can the common law help address AI risk? How is the UK common law system superior to the US legal system?
• What do we mean by “existential risk” as it pertains to artificial intelligence?

I have a massive study in the works addressing all these issues. In the meantime, you can watch the video of my London talk here. And thanks again to my friends at the Adam Smith Institute for hosting!

Additional Reading:

• Adam Thierer, “The Proper Governance Default for AI,” Medium, May 26, 2022, https://medium.com/@AdamThierer/the-proper-governance-default-for-ai-d05db6970924.
• Adam Thierer, “What I Learned about the Power of AI at the Cleveland Clinic,” Medium, May 6, 2022, https://medium.com/@AdamThierer/what-i-learned-about-the-power-of-ai-at-the-cleveland-clinic-e5b7768d057d.
• Adam Thierer, Governing Emerging Technology in an Age of Policy Fragmentation and Disequilibrium, American Enterprise Institute (April 2022), https://platforms.aei.org/can-the-knowledge-gap-between-regulators-and-innovators-be-narrowed
• Adam Thierer, “A Global Clash of Visions: The Future of AI Policy,” The Hill, May 4, 2021, https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/551562-a-global-clash-of-visions-the-future-of-ai-policy.
• Adam Thierer, “S. Artificial Intelligence Governance in the Obama–Trump Years,” IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society, Vol, 2, Issue 4, (2021), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4013880.
• Ryan Hagemann, Jennifer Huddleston Skees & Adam Thierer, “Soft Law for Hard Problems: The Governance of Emerging Technologies in an Uncertain Future,” Colorado Technology Law Journal, Vol. 17 (2018), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3118539.
• Adam Thierer, “OMB’s AI Guidance Embodies Wise Tech Governance,” Mercatus Center Public Comment, March 13, 2020, https://www.mercatus.org/publications/technology-and-innovation/ombs-ai-guidance-embodies-wise-tech-governance.
• Adam Thierer, “Europe’s New AI Industrial Policy,” Medium, February 20, 2020, https://medium.com/@AdamThierer/europes-new-ai-industrial-policy-c5d945c5579f.
• Adam Thierer, “Trump’s AI Framework & the Future of Emerging Tech Governance,” Medium, January 8, 2020, https://medium.com/@AdamThierer/trumps-ai-framework-the-future-of-emerging-tech-governance-e504943e07d4.
• Adam Thierer, “Soft Law: The Reconciliation of Permissionless & Responsible Innovation,” Chapter 7 in Adam Thierer, Evasive Entrepreneurs & the Future of Governance (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2020): 183-240, https://www.mercatus.org/publications/technology-and-innovation/soft-law-reconciliation-permissionless-responsible-innovation.
• Andrea O’Sullivan & Adam Thierer, “Counterpoint: Regulators Should Allow the Greatest Space for AI Innovation,” Communications of the ACM, Volume 61, Issue 12, (December 2018): 33-35, https://doi.org/10.1145/3241035.
• Adam Thierer, Andrea O’Sullivan & Raymond Russell, “Artificial Intelligence and Public Policy,” Mercatus Research, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Arlington, VA, (2017), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3021135.
• Adam Thierer, “Are ‘Permissionless Innovation’ and ‘Responsible Innovation’ Compatible?” Technology Liberation Front, July 12, 2017, https://techliberation.com/2017/07/12/are-permissionless-innovation-and-responsible-innovation-compatible.
• Adam Thierer, “The Growing AI Technopanic,” Medium, April 27, 2017, https://aboveintelligent.com/the-growing-ai-technopanic-5d6658b00fed.
• Adam Thierer, “The Day the Machines Took Over,” Medium, May 11, 2017, https://medium.com/@AdamThierer/the-day-the-machines-took-over-51076ba8e4f4.
• Adam Thierer, “When the Trial Lawyers Come for the Robot Cars,” Slate, June 10, 2016, https://slate.com/technology/2016/06/if-a-driverless-car-crashes-who-is-liable.html.
• Adam Thierer, “Problems with Precautionary Principle-Minded Tech Regulation & a Federal Robotics Commission,” Medium, September 22, 2014, https://medium.com/tech-liberation/problems-with-precautionary-principle-minded-tech-regulation-a-federal-robotics-commission-c71f6f20d8bd.
• Adam Thierer, “On the Line between Technology Ethics vs. Technology Policy,” Technology Liberation Front, August 1, 2013, https://techliberation.com/2013/08/01/on-the-line-between-technology-ethics-vs-technology-policy.

Last month, it was my great honor to be invited to be a keynote speaker at Lincoln Network’s Reboot 2018 “Innovation Under Threat” conference. Zach Graves interviewed me for 30 minutes about a wide range of topics, including: innovation arbitrage, evasive entrepreneurialism, technopanics, the pacing problem, permissionless innovation, technological civil disobedience, existential risk, soft law and more. They’ve now posted the full event video and you can watch it down below.

Since the release of my book, Permissionless Innovation: The Continuing Case for Comprehensive Technological Freedom , it has been my pleasure to be invited to speak to dozens of groups about the future of technology policy debates. In the process, I have developed and continuously refined a slide show entitled, “‘Permissionless Innovation’ & the Clash of Visions over Emerging Technologies.” After delivering this talk again twice last week, I figured I would post the latest slide deck I’m using for the presentation. It’s embedded below or it can be found at the link above.

This afternoon, Berin Szoka asked me to participate in a TechFreedom conference on “COPPA: Past, Present & Future of Children’s Privacy & Media.” [CSPAN video is here.] It was a in-depth, 3-hour, 2-panel discussion of the Federal Trade Commission’s recent revisions to the rules issued under the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

While most of the other panelists were focused on the devilish details about how COPPA works in practice (or at least should work in practice), I decided to ask a more provocative question to really shake up the discussion: What are we going to do when COPPA fails?

My notes for the event follow down below. I didn’t have time to put them into a smooth narrative, so please pardon the bullet points.

COPPA will fail in the long-run for two reasons:

(1)    With COPPA, the FTC is engaged in a technological arms race that it cannot win.

• COPPA was formulated for a Web 1.0 world of static websites with limited interactivity. In that environment is worked reasonably well, although it certainly imposed costs on site developers and affected market structure.
• As we moved into a Web 2.0 world of interactive social media in the mid to late-2000s, however, the rule has been strained by marketplace new realities. COPPA’s drafters never really envisioned sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• In our current environment—let’s call it the Web 2.5 world—we have added mobile geolocation and social discovery to the mix and that is straining COPPA to the breaking point.
• But we are about to enter the Web 3.0 world of the “Internet of Things;” a sensor-based world in which the communication technology will literally be woven into the clothes we wear and all the devices we use.
  • Cisco has estimated that by 2020, 37 billion devices will be linked together and communicating.
  • It will be almost impossible for COPPA to keep up with the explosion of these technologies because everything in our lives and our children’s lives will be interconnected, communicating, and collecting data.
  • Information will be ubiquitously collected simply by nature of the technology itself.
  • The entire Web 3.0 world will be one of comprehensive passive information collection.
  • So, notions like “collection”, “directed at children” and “personal information” will be become impossible to enforce absence a flat-out ban on the technologies themselves

(2)    COPPA will also fail because of the simple reality that the more complicated and costly this regulatory regime becomes, the more likely it is that that both kids and parents will ignore it or seek to actively evade it.

• The actual monetary cost of any online service may obviously be one thing parents and kids seek to avoid.
• But the bigger cost is the mental hassle associated with delayed gratification.
  • When people demand certain services, they want them now. And they will get them even when law gets in the way. And sometimes they value the utility / functionality that those services provide more than they value privacy.
  • A 2011 Harvard-Berkeley study pointed out the evasion is already rampant and that many parents are facilitating that result by encouraging their kids to lie about their ages online.
    • This problem will only increase in the Internet of Things era as kids and parents come to expect all their devices to be communicating at all times and retaining data for them.

So, what are we going to do about? How do we prepare for the post-COPPA world that’s coming?

• We shouldn’t just throw up our hands in defeat.
• But we must accept the technological and practical challenges associated with regulation and seek out alternative approaches.
• Best solution, therefore, is: Education, media literacy, and digital citizenship
  • We need to do a much better job educating both kids and adults about sensible online interactions.
  • We need to talk to our kids and each other about being more savvy, sensible, respectful, and resilient media consumers and digital citizens.
  • In encouraging our kids and fellow Netizens to be good “digital citizens,” we must stress smarter online hygiene (sensible personal data use) and better “Netiquette” (proper behavior toward others), which can further both online safety and digital privacy goals.
  • More generally, as part of these digital literacy and citizenship efforts, we must do more  to explain the potential perils of over-sharing information about ourselves and others while simultaneously encouraging consumers to delete unnecessary online information occasionally and cover their digital footprints in other ways.
  • These education and literacy efforts are also important because they help us adapt to new technological changes by employing a variety of coping mechanisms or new social norms. These efforts and lessons should start at a young age and continue on well into adulthood through other means, such as awareness campaigns and public service announcements.

Additional Reading:

• The Unintended Consequences of Well-Intentioned Privacy Regulation
• Thoughts on Latest FTC COPPA Rule Revisions & Online Child Safety / Privacy
• Joint CDT-PFF-EFF Comments on FTC’s COPPA Review & the Dangers of COPPA Expansion
• What We Didn’t Hear at Yesterday’s FTC COPPA Workshop
• COPPA 2.0: The New Battle over Privacy, Age Verification, Online Safety & Free Speech, by Berin Szoka & Adam Thierer

OnGuardOnline.gov is a project of a dozen federal agencies and several private child safety organizations who have collaborated to create a website which “provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.”  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is particularly instrumental in maintaining and promoting the site but it works closely with those other agencies and organizations to craft messages and programs.

OnGuardOnline has just released a terrific new online safety resource called  Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids about Being Online. This 54-page document is an outstanding resource for parents.  The report’s advice and recommendations are spot on across the board and I particularly want to highlight the important section right at the front of the document entitled, “Talk to Your Kids.”  It begins: “The best way to protect your kids online? Talk to them. Research suggests that when children want important information, most rely on their parents.” Quite right.  And the NetCetra report goes on to offer the following excellent advice:

• Start early. After all, even toddlers see their parents use all kinds of devices. As soon as your child is using a computer, a cell phone or any mobile device, it’s time to talk to them about online behavior, safety, and security. As a parent, you have the opportunity to talk to your kid about what’s important before anyone else does.
• Create an honest, open environment. Kids look to their parents to help guide them. Be supportive and positive.  Listening and taking their feelings into account helps keep conversation afloat. You may not have all the answers, and being honest about that can go a long way.

• Initiate conversations. Even if your kids are comfortable approaching you, don’t wait for them to start the conversation. Use everyday opportunities to talk to your kids about being online. For instance, a TV program featuring a teen online or using a cell phone can tee up a discussion about what to do—or not—in similar circumstances. News stories about internet scams or cyberbullying, for example, also can help start a conversation with kids about their experiences and your expectations.
• Communicate your values. Be upfront about your values and how they apply in an online context. Communicating your values clearly can help your kids make smarter and more thoughtful decisions when they face tricky situations.
• Be patient. Resist the urge to rush through conversations with your kids. Most kids need to hear information repeated, in small doses, for it to sink in. If you keep talking with your kids, your patience and persistence will pay off in the long run. Work hard to keep the lines of communication open, even if you learn your kid has done something online you find inappropriate.

Absolutely perfect; that’s a great model for all parents to adopt.  And the report offers excellent advice on a variety of issues from there.

This is exactly the sort of thing I called for the government to start doing in my report, Parental Controls & Online Child Protection.  In Sec IV.B(2) of my report (beginning on pg. 150 of Ver. 4.0), I called for public officials to get serious about online safety education and awareness building by using collaborative efforts and promotional tools to spread general safety messages.  This sort of education and awareness building is the constructive alternative to regulatory efforts that are all too often favored by some policymakers and regulators.

The FTC and all the other agencies and organizations involved in creating the Net Cetera report deserve high praise for what they’ve done here.  Absolutely outstanding work. Read it.

I like this new document about guarding your online reputation that has just been jointly published by Reputation Defender and the Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe). They list these “3 Key Tips for Parents” for how to deal with concerns about their children’s online safety, privacy, and reputation:

1. Keep Current with Technology: Talk to teachers about what forms of Internet safety tools they implement in computer labs and technology classes, consider these safety tools for home use, and stay up-to-date on the capabilities of any mobile devices your child may have. 2. Keep Communicating with Your Kids: Find out who your child talks to online, educate your kids about the permanence of any “digital footprints” they leave behind, limit the use of social networks, and make it a habit to engage your kids in critical conversation—the more you talk to your kids about their online usage, the more they will learn to use digital products in a safe and healthy manner. 3. Keep Checking Your Kid’s Internet Activity: Keep computers in a central public location, check your child’s browsing histories, and limit your child’s computer time—there’s a whole world of outdoor and offline activities where they should be involved!

All good advice. I especially like their focus on getting parents to communicate early and often with their kids. It’s something I have beat the drum about quite a bit in my own work on the subject. Specifically, they rightly stress the importance of “encourag[ing] your child to think critically and evaluate sources of online information, and about promises made by other people online.” “[M]ake it a habit to engage your kids in critical conversation,” they stress. “The more you talk to your kids about their online usage, the more they will learn to use digital products in a safe and healthy manner.”

Here are some of the questions they suggest to parents that will help them get these conversations rolling with their kids:

• “How much time do you spend online when you’re not at home?”
• “What kinds of things do you or your friends usually do when you’re online?”
• “Show me your favorite sites.”
• “Why are they your favorites?”
• “Are there any websites you don’t like? Why don’t you like them?”
• “Do you talk to other people online?”
• “Who are they?”
• “What do you talk about?”
• “Are you the same person online as you are offline?”

All good stuff.  This how responsible parenting in the Information Age gets started. It’s never easy to have such conversations, but they are essential.  Especially if we don’t want lawmakers proposing that Uncle Sam become our national nanny.

In an earlier post, I mentioned an important new online child safety task force report that has just been released from the “Point Smart. Click Safe.” Blue Ribbon Working Group. It’s a great report and I encourage you to read the whole thing. It was my great pleasure to serve on this task force, and as we started finalizing our conclusions and recommendations, I started thinking about how much of what we were finding and recommending was consistent with what past online safety task forces had also concluded.

By way of background, over the past decade, five major online safety task forces or blue ribbon commissions have been convened to study online safety issues. Two of these task forces were convened in the United States and issued reports in 2000 (“COPA Commission”) and 2002 (“Thornburgh Commission“). Another was commissioned by the British government in 2007 and issued in a major report in March 2008 (“Byron Review“). Finally, two additional online safety task forces were formed in the U.S. in 2008 and concluded their work, respectively, in January (“Internet Safety Technical Task Force“) and July (“Point Smart. Click Safe.“) of 2009. [And yet another task force — the Online Safety Technology Working Group — was recently formed and has now gotten underway.]

In a new PFF white paper, ” Five Online Safety Task Forces Agree: Education, Empowerment & Self-Regulation Are the Answer,” I walk through a chronological summary of each of these past task forces [click on covers of each report below to read them in their entirety] and highlight some of the similar themes and recommendations from them.

Altogether, these five task forces heard from hundreds of experts and produced thousands of pages of testimony and reports on a wide variety of issues related to online child safety. While each of these task forces had different origins and unique membership, what is striking about them is the general unanimity of their conclusions. Among the common themes or recommendations of these five task forces:

• Education is the primary solution to most online child safety concerns. These task forces consistently stressed the importance of media literacy, awareness-building efforts, public service announcements, targeted intervention techniques, and better mentoring and parenting strategies.
• There is no single “silver-bullet” solution or technological “quick-fix” to child safety concerns. That is especially the case in light of the rapid pace of change in the digital world.
• Empowering parents and guardians with a diverse array of tools, however, can help families, caretakers, and schools to exercise more control over online content and communications.
• Technological tools and parental controls are most effective as part of a “layered” approach to child safety that views them as one of many strategies or solutions.
• The best technical control measures are those that work in tandem with educational strategies and approaches to better guide and mentor children to make wise choices. Thus, technical solutions can supplement, but can never supplant, the educational and mentoring role.
• Industry should formulate best practices and self-regulatory systems to empower users with more information and tools so they can make appropriate decisions for themselves and their families. And those best practices, which often take the form of an industry code of conduct or default control settings, should constantly be refined to take into account new social concerns, cultural norms, and technological developments.
• Government should avoid inflexible, top-down technological mandates. Instead, policymakers should focus on encouraging collaborative, multifaceted, multi-stakeholder initiatives and approaches to enhance online safety. Additional resources for education and awareness-building efforts are also crucial. Finally, governments should ensure appropriate penalties are in place to punish serious crimes against children and also make sure law enforcement agencies have adequate resources to police crimes and punish wrong-doers.

The consistency of these findings from those five previous task forces is important and it should guide future discussions among policymakers, the press, and the general public regarding online child safety.  As I note in the paper, the findings are particularly relevant today since Congress and the Obama Administration — including 3 federal agencies (NTIA, FCC, & FTC) are actively studying these issues. So, in light of all that, I hope this short paper can shed some light on the collective wisdom of the past task forces. While more study of online child safety issues is always welcome — including additional task forces or working groups if policymakers deem them necessary — thanks to the work of these five task forces, we now have better vision of what is needed to address online safety concerns.

Five Online Safety Task Forces Agree [PFF – Adam Thierer] http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=17181137&access_key=key-z6cxfgrjkqaqtxbix&page=1&version=1&viewMode=