How to Impede Technological Progress

Podcast: New Things Under the Sun
Episode: How to Impede Technological Progress
Pub date: 2023-07-13



Most of the time, we think of innovation policy as a problem of how to accelerate desirable forms of technological progress. But there are other times when we may wish to actively slow technological progress. The AI pause letter is a recent example, but less controversial examples abound. A lot of energy policy acts as a brake on the rate of technological advance in conventional fossil fuel innovation. Geopolitical rivals often seek to impede the advance of rivals’ military technology.Today I want to look at policy levers that actively slow technological advance, sometimes (but not always) as an explicit goal.<br /><br />This podcast is an audio read through of the (initial version of the) article "How to impede technological progress", originally published on New Things Under the Sun.

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