Tombstone regulation

• In aviation safety, tombstone mentality means waiting for deaths before fixing a known problem
• Laws and regulators usually react to disasters rather than prevent them
• Recall Moor’s policy vacuum and regulatory lag

The Collingridge dilemma

David Collingridge, The Social Control of Technology (1980):

• Early on, a technology is easy to change, but we don’t know its harms yet
• Later, the harms are clear, but the technology is entrenched and hard to change

By the time we know enough to regulate, it may be too late to regulate easily.

Group Discussion: Reactive regulation

• Why does regulation usually come after computing technology has caused harm?
• In most of our cases, someone warned about the problem before the harm was done. Why weren’t they heard?

Proactive regulation is possible

• 1975: Asilomar: scientists paused and set guidelines for recombinant DNA research before any harm
• 1987: Montreal Protocol: countries phased out CFCs soon after the ozone hole was discovered, before the worst damage
• 2024: EU AI Act: bans some AI uses and sets rules by risk level before most harms occur

Some concepts

• Precautionary principle: When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically
• Incrementalism: progress through small, continuous steps rather than massive, sweeping overhauls

Group Discussion

• Critics of incrementalism argue that this approach 1) protects the status quo and 2) fails to address fast-moving problems
• Critics of precautionary principle argue that this approach paralyzes technological and economic progress

What approach do you think makes more sense regarding the regulation of computing technologies, in your opinion?

References and Further Reading

• Atkinson, M. M. (2011). Lindblom’s lament: Incrementalism and the persistent pull of the status quo*. Policy and Society, 30(1), 9–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polsoc.2010.12.002
• Collingridge, D. (1980). The Social Control of Technology. Frances Pinter.

Journal Writing

Reflect on what you liked and disliked about this lecture, what you learned, and what you wished you’d learned.

1. What you learned from the lecture and discussion – this can be something that surprised you, something you had not considered before, a new way of thinking about something
2. What you wish you’d learned from the discussion – this can be questions you still have and questions you would like to explore further
3. Anything you liked of disliked