Tech Policy Podcast

Sayash Kapoor, a Princeton researcher, and Arvind Narayanan, a co-author focusing on AI capabilities, delve into the murky waters of AI risk predictions. They discuss the concept of 'AI Snake Oil'—how misleading claims can cloud our understanding of AI's true potential. The duo emphasizes that our predictions about the impact of AI are often chaotic and subjective. They argue for a reassessment of how we perceive AI's threats, advocating for policy measures that prioritize practical issues rather than apocalyptic fears, and encourage grounded conversations on AI's actual capabilities.

Geoff Manne (International Center for Law & Economics) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discuss the many, many flaws in the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta (Facebook). A crossover episode with the Washington Legal Foundation / TechFreedom Tech in the Courts series.Topics include:- The ontology of Facebook- Social networking: it’s not 2008 anymore- The FTC’s made-up market- The WhatsApp Catch-22- Has Facebook been enshittified?- Product design by government: bad idea!- Growing startups: hard, actuallyLinks:The Feds Unfriend Facebook: Why the FTC’s Meta Antitrust Case Should FailTech Policy Podcast 357: The Amazon Antitrust CaseTech Policy Podcast 353: The Google Search Antitrust TrialTech Policy Podcast 302: Epic v. Apple

Corbin Barthold, Ari Cohn, and Santana Boulton from TechFreedom tackle recent Supreme Court cases impacting online speech. They dive into the implications of key rulings like Moody v. NetChoice, expressing concerns about legislating without accountability. Justice Kagan’s progressive stance surprisingly earns praise, while Justice Alito's frustrations are also highlighted. The trio debates the future of free speech amidst rising content moderation challenges, and they critically assess age-gating of adult content and its implications for First Amendment rights.

Is AI a miracle? A threat? Will it free us? Enslave us? Both? Neither? What’s the future of AI and governance? AI and art? AI and elections? AI and social media? AI and the economy? AI and the world?Welcome to the Tech Policy Podcast: AI and Everything. On this special episode, we present highlights from more than a year of conversations with leading experts on the state of the AI revolution.Featuring Adam Thierer, Samuel Hammond, Liza Lin, Arnold Kling, Brian Frye, Joseph Tainter, James Pethokoukis, Robert Atkinson, Alice Marwick, and Ari Cohn.Links:Tech Policy Podcast 327: The Collapse of Complex SocietiesTech Policy Podcast 337: China and Domestic SurveillanceTech Policy Podcast 346: Who’s Afraid of Artificial Intelligence?Tech Policy Podcast 355: Conservative FuturismTech Policy Podcast 361: AI, Art, Copyright, and the Life of BrianTech Policy Podcast 363: AI and ElectionsTech Policy Podcast 369: AI and State CapacityTech Policy Podcast 375: Tech Facts and FallaciesTech Policy Podcast 377: AI and Wicked Problems

Noah Smith (Noahpinion Substack) discusses techno-industrial competition with China and Russia.Topics include:American industry: we’re #2 :( Allies: no longer a luxuryNEPA sucksA brief lesson about nickelThe death of state capacity: greatly exaggerated?Will information destroy liberalism?Clowns to the left, clowns to the rightHey, let’s *not* be divided and poorLinks:Noahpinion (Substack)People are realizing that the Arsenal of Democracy is goneHappy fun Cold War 2 updateThree holes in the U.S.’ economic strategy against ChinaHow liberal democracy might lose the 21st centuryLiberalism is losing the information war

Brandon Kirk Williams (Lawrence Livermore) discusses quantum computing—the science behind it, its potential applications, the geopolitics surrounding it, and more.Links:The U.S. Must Win the Quantum Computing Race. History Shows How to Do ItThe U.S. Needs a Strategy for the Second Quantum Revolution

Alice Marwick from UNC-Chapel Hill discusses Child Online Safety Legislation, touching on moral panic, vague definitions of harmful content, and emphasizing centering kids over technology in policy. The conversation challenges misconceptions about online safety laws and advocates for empowering youth in addressing social media and mental health concerns.

Berin Szóka and James Dunstan from TechFreedom discuss FCC orders on Title II regulation and digital discrimination. Topics include telecom law history, FCC's internet regulation, net neutrality debate, and challenges for broadband providers. They also cover legal analysis, potential legislation, and concerns about government regulations on discrimination in the broadband sector.

Arnold Kling discusses his recent article in Reason magazine, “Not Even Artificial Intelligence Can Make Central Planning Work.”Topics include:Why central planning is impossibleThe importance of pricesWhat is AI good for?Will AI know us better than we know ourselves?What markets will AI disrupt?Social media and tribal gang-sign flashingThe myopia of the revanchist rightLinks:Not Even Artificial Intelligence Can Make Central Planning WorkDavid Brin’s Transparent Society RevisitedMir McLuhanismThe Revanchist RightTech Policy Podcast 368: How the Government Gets Your Data

Renée DiResta (Stanford Internet Observatory) discusses her new book, Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality.Topics include:Social media influencers: the new media eliteHow do ideas take root?Influencers as exploiters of asymmetriesBullshit: an investigationCould platforms have stopped Stop the Steal?Fixing the expert classChomsky’s Manufacturing ConsentThe future of social mediaLinks:Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into RealityInfluencers, Bullshitters, and How We Lost a Shared RealityRenée DiResta at Politics and Prose (DC), June 13Renée DiResta at the Commonwealth Club (SF), June 17The New Media Goliaths (Noema)Agents of Influence newsletterTech Policy Podcast 293: The Supply of Renée DiResta Should Be Infinite