The Case for AI Guardrails, 2040’s Ideas and Innovations Newsletter, Issue 119

Issue 119, July 27, 2023

Whatever you think about the U.S. government or our elected officials, it does have guardrails in place to protect its citizens. For pharma and food products, it’s the FDA.  For workplace safety there’s OSHA. For mobility safety, it’s the Department of Transportation. For safe investments, there’s the SEC. For consumer protection, there’s the Federal Trade Commission. For AI and emerging tech, there’s nothing.

Setting Boundaries

By human nature, we set boundaries made of guardrails to protect ourselves. Sometimes those boundaries encircle us while others have small openings that we hope we can slip through. The westward-ho pioneer settlers’ evening ritual of circling the wagons was real and sensible when facing the unknown and perceived danger. Since we are a highly social species, protection is a survival tool for our families, ourselves and our communities. Recently, however, there is fragmented consensus on what needs to be protected and by whom. To put it int…