Defining Technologies of Our Time

From regulation and legislation to court rulings, legal definitions of emerging technologies like AI dramatically change the way technology impacts us. Aspen Digital is making it easier for policymakers to draft well-scoped tech legislation with a collection of legal definitions for emerging tech terms.

THE CHALLENGE

Legal definitions are a highly-referenced and -recycled part of legislation and regulation. Decisions about a definition can cascade through a document and the resulting enforcement, leading to unintended consequences if definitions are not carefully scoped. Terms relating to emerging technologies like AI are especially difficult to define due to the fast-changing technological frontier and the broad application of these tools.

For this reason, Congress has historically granted power to executive agencies to adjust definitions and update terms in accordance with new information and best practices. This has changed, recently, due to the Loper Bright decision overturning the “Chevron Doctrine.” Now, policy leaders have a new responsibility thrust upon them to get these highly consequential definitions right in legislative text—since they can no longer confer this responsibility to executive agencies—and they urgently need support.

OUR APPROACH

Aspen Digital will bring together leading thinkers in technology, legal scholars, and policy advocates to craft a collection of example definitions for emerging technology terms, with legal and technological rationales for why a policymaker should choose one potential definition over another in context. The collection will be made available both in print and as a digital resource.