Regulate Tech
If we are inviting you to listen to this then we owe you an explanation for why we recorded it. Some egoism of course sits behind any exercise of this kind, and we fit the bill for middle-aged men making podcasts as they are desperate for someone to listen to them while locked down in a pandemic. But we also have a political purpose and believe we have something useful to contribute to the debate on regulation of internet platforms. This dialogue - about the future of technology, policy and society - is among the most important public conversations that will play out over the next decade, and its outcomes will affect our lives for years to come. You may not agree with all (or much!) of what you hear from us, but we hope you will feel that it is at least well-informed and, if nothing else, provides some useful insights into the thinking of people who have worked ’at the heart of the beast’. All views personal only, and not those of any affiliated organizations, employers or other parties!
Episodes
Episodes
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Regulate Tech 2023:8 - The best defense is...what?
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
On thermonuclear lawsuits, fair and unfair attacks, the necessary grumbling phase, the value of real, deep and felt conflict and much more. How should you react when attacked as an organisation? What is the best policy response to criticism?
Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
Regulate Tech 2023:7 - Knowing when to quit!
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
When should you pivot from lobbying against a bill to shaping it? When should you re-evaluate and ditch old strategies? How can you keep yourself honest in assessing how things are actually going and are we - in policy and politics - rewarding persistence at the price of increasing our sunk costs? We discuss Annie Duke's excellent book Quit: Knowing when to walk away from a policy perspective.
Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
Regulate Tech 2023:6 -Lobbyism in the actual lobby
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023
In this episode we discuss what works and what does not work in trying to shape the outcome of the legislative process. We also launch the idea of venture policy portfolios to avoid being late to the game, and give a few pointers on what not to say.
Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad
Wednesday May 31, 2023
Regulate Tech 2023:5 - Let’s talk about AI
Wednesday May 31, 2023
Wednesday May 31, 2023
So AI is on everyone's mind. But how should we think about capable and complex systems overall? What are the fundamentals? What are some general models and ideas about the challenges we will face when regulating AI? In this episode we discuss the broad strokes around AI and how they force us to rethink things like agency and actions.
Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundböad
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
In this session we discuss encryption, and how it affects our ability as a society to fight crime. This is not a new discussion, and the questions have been up for discussion before. Is it different this time? We also discuss the long term future of encryption and how the debate might evolve.
Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
Regulate Tech 2023:3 Is the answer to the machine in the machine?
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
In this episode we review some recent research and ask why and how we should regulate technology more broadly -- through focusing on the technology or on the human behaviour? What is best and how do we research human behaviour and use of technology better?
The papers we discussed:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2216614120
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2302.11225.pdf
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36848573/
Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Regulate Tech 2023:2 Regulating Emerging Tech
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
How do we deal with new technology from a regulatory perspective? How fast does the legislation catch up with technology, and is it different for different areas of the law? How do things like crypto, AI and quantum provoke responses from government? In this episode we discuss models of regulation for emerging technology, and what we really are regulating - is it technology, companies or geopolitical power balances?
Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Regulate Tech 2023:1 The Online Safety Bill - Nearly There!
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
In this first episode of the year we discuss the Online Safety Bill and the latest changes, new challenges and everything from criminal liability to age verification in practice. Tune in and send us your questions and ideas.
Participants: Richard Allan, Nicklas Berild Lundblad
A podcast about tech, policy and the future
Are you interested in learning more about the craft of tech policy? Dig deep in the classics? Figure out what the future for tech holds? Then this is the podcast for you. Conversations between two long-time policy professionsals with 50+ years of shared experience from tech policy in companies, trade associations and academia.