Nathan E. Sanders is a data scientist and an affiliate of the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University. Bruce Schneier is a security technologist and professor and professor at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Lobbying has long been part of the trade between policymakers and advocates working to balance their competing interests, but some corporate entities are adept at using legal but subtle strategies to sway rules in your favor.
AI tools could make these kinds of subtle strategies more pervasive and effective. A natural opening for this technology comes in the form of micro-legislation, a term for small bills that serve narrow interests.
Computer models can predict the likely fate of proposed legislative amendments, as well as the paths through which lobbyists can most effectively secure desired outcomes, a critical piece of building an AI lobbyist.
The danger of micro-legislation, a danger greatly exacerbated by AI, is that it can be used in a way that makes it difficult to figure out who the legislation actually benefits. Read the whole story.
The runway for futuristic electric planes is still long
The news: The future of flight has just been delayed, at least for one startup. Today Beta Technologies pushed back the debut of its futuristic electric plane that can take off and land like a helicopter. Instead, it announced plans to certify a more conventional version of its electric plane by 2025.
