Can we govern emerging technologies?

By , March 1, 2017

Until recently, research into science and technology was funded primarily by governments. Today, technological breakthroughs are being driven primarily by private firms funded with venture capital. This change in the R&D landscape is leaving governments and international organizations scrambling to craft oversight tools and policies that will help manage the disruptive impacts—and possible threats—resulting from rapid-fire technical advance.

The March/April issue of the Bulletin’s digital journal grapples with innovations in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity, and a host of other fields that are challenging society’s ability to establish the rules and norms necessary to keep global populations safe from unintended negative consequences of technological progress.

And this issue’s Nuclear Notebook–a look at Russian Nuclear Forces, 2017— could not be more timely: Will the shrinking of Russia’s strategic nuclear arsenal that has characterized the past two decades come to an end?

Here’s what you need to know:

(Automated) planning for tomorrow: Will artificial intelligence get smarter?
Edward Moore Geist

Glaring gaps: America needs a biodefense upgrade
Daniel M. Gerstein

The third offset strategy: A misleading slogan
Lawrence J. Korb and Carly Evans

The upside and downside of swarming drones

Irving Lachow
Free access

As technology goes democratic, nations lose military control

Ben FitzGerald and Jacqueline Parziale

Soft law: New tools for governing emerging technologies
Gary E. Marchant and Brad Allenby
Free access

Interviews

IARPA Director Jason Matheny advances tech tools for US espionage
Elisabeth Eaves
Free access

Pulitzer-winning author Tracy Kidder: Looking for the soul of the machine makers
Dan Drollette

Nuclear Notebook

Russian nuclear forces, 2017
Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris
Free access

Global Forum

Editor’s note
Lucien Crowder

China’s proper role in the global nuclear order: A Chinese response
Hua Han

China’s proper role in the global nuclear order: A US response
Gregory Kulacki

China’s proper role in the global nuclear order: An Indian response
Rajesh Rajagopalan

Book Reviews

An occurrence at Oak Ridge: Morality in an age of nuclear peril
James E. Doyle

Death from above: The perils of lethal drone strikes
Laurie Calhoun

As the coronavirus crisis shows, we need science now more than ever.

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