Policymakers and companies looking to gove rn advanced artificial intelligence systems are faced with a dilemma: uncertainty. Whether they’re debating the present and future capabilities of the technology\, the nature and seve rity of its risks\, or t he benefits it might offer\, these decision makers are confronted with deep\, often unr esolvable uncertainty.
In light of this challenge\, how should govern ments regulate AI?
Often\, the suggested answer falls near one of two poles: regulatory skepticism (“we don’t know enough\; do nothing”) or regu latory prescriptivism (“we know enough\; regulate today”). In this talk\, < a href="https://law-ai.org/team/mackenzie-arnold-2/">Mackenzie Arno ld will outline a third option: “radical optionality.” Radical optionality takes seriously the limits of our current knowledge\, and the risk that static regulation may quickly become outdated or hinder technolog ical progress. But rather than resolving to do nothing\, it proposes a set of actions to maintain flexibility and inform future decision making. By fo cusing on managing uncertainty rather than ignoring it\, radical optionalit y highlights the value of tools that help governments learn\, coordinate\, reason\, and respond. It offers a potential path toward managing uncertaint y.
Mackenzie is Director of US Policy at LawAI\, wher e he provides analysis and advice to ensure that advances in AI benefit the public at large. His own research focuses on administrative law\, agency d ecision making\, and liability. Prior to joining LawAI\, Mackenzie clerked for Judge Joseph A. Greenaway\, Jr. of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals\, worked in public health law at a New York nonprofit\, and graduated\, cum laude\, from Harvard Law School. Before law school\, Mackenzie completed a Fulbright Grant in Ourense\, Spain and received his B.A. in political scien ce\, summa cum laude\, from Boston College\, winning the G.F. & J.W. Bemis Award (for exemplary service to others) and the Donald S. Carlisle Award (a warded to the top graduate in political science).
CATEGORIES:Speaker/Panel LOCATION:Berkman Klein Multipurpose Room (Room 515) GEO:0.000000;0.000000 ORGANIZER;CN="Jessica Weaver":MAILTO:jweaver@law.harvard.edu URL;VALUE=URI:https://hls.harvard.edu/events/radical-optionality-a-governan ce-strategy-for-managing-uncertainty/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-14-at-10.44.32 AM.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 DTSTART:20250309T070000 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR