Editorial - June/July 2023
When representatives of big tech companies request government regulation to constrain their expansion, it can only be seen as a remarkable and historic moment. Indeed, it was described as exactly that at the recent US Senate hearing when the head of OpenAI, which operates ChatGPT, Sam Altman, said government intervention is needed to regulate rapidly expanding artificial intelligence (AI) systems. There’s real momentum now to regulate big tech, not only in relation to AI, but also to prevent online harm by social media companies and, as our feature ‘Protecting journalism in the digital age’, suggests to support the US Constitution’s First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press, requiring that journalism remains financially viable – something big tech has fundamentally undermined.
There’s rare bipartisan support in the US and agreement between tech executives and law-makers. The question now is not whether to regulate, but how it should be done. Protecting the public is the priority here, not profit. Global Insight has covered these and related themes in depth and detail over the years and recently released a podcast on the impact of AI, the need to regulate and how this bears on the legal profession, which can be found on the IBA website. The recognition of this need to regulate is clearly a development that the legal profession can and should wholeheartedly embrace. Creating the right regulatory framework, in this area and others, is an essential service that can have a significant positive impact.
Our cover feature, ‘America’s gun gridlock’, explores the possibility that this might be a similar moment when it comes to gun control, admittedly a far more long-running, fraught and apparently intractable issue. The US Constitution’s Second Amendment, protecting gun ownership, has been in place since 1791. But the troubling upward trajectory of gun violence is now all too apparent: 200 mass shootings this year; 45,000 deaths last year; and 40,000 injuries, and this year’s grim statistics look set to be even worse. As a result, the public mood appears to have shifted. Even in Texas, there’s widespread support for raising the age for legally owning a gun to 21. As our feature makes clear, there’s real appetite for change. The laws are in place, but they need to be made far more comprehensive if we are to prevent such widespread tragedy from continuing unabated.