It’s a busy season and there are many plates to keep spinning. Moving from one to the next, tending them while keeping the whole in mind, stray thoughts arise.
Some thoughts dissipate. Some linger. Here are a few things that are currently on my mind when it comes to grappling with uncertainty.
- The duty to anticipate can also create blindspots
Speaking about AI and foresight recently on Australia’s Burning Platforms podcast highlighted, for me, the current efforts in that nation to legislate for a “Digital Duty of Care“, which is intended to “obligate online services to keep their users safe, prevent serious harms before they occur, and anticipate the next generation of harms on the horizon.”
Discussions about the proposed duty reminded me of work by Jeremy Brice, Andrew Donaldson, and Jane Midgley on the “Horsegate” scandal of 2013, where horseflesh was mixed with beef products.
The research highlighted that when a regulatory apparatus renders a business responsible for taking action against foreseeable threats or harms, businesses can develop forms of strategic ignorance which are compliant with the regulations but limit true anticipation…and liability.
As the researchers put it,
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