A major gap in all these articles is any consideration of the ethics of the industry. Finance, tech, along with property/construction and the City more broadly have dreadful reputations for misbehaviour. Does this really need spelling out with the myriad examples that can be cited? The combination of fin and tech, with the extraordinary concentrations and abuses of power and wealth that we are seeing is a case in point. The least trustworthy people to rely on when it comes to the development of something as important but also potentially threatening as AI.
I have observed over the decades that sectors that complain bitterly about regulation and too often end up with a mass of regulation, are precisely those who are incapable of behaving themselves. Accumulation of wealth, regardless of the consequences, is all that matters. Fines are treated as the cost of doing business. Gaming the system just the norm. Deploying batteries of expensive lawyers to beat (under-resourced) regulators into submission. Regulation ends up being inversely proportional to ethical standards. Highly ethical companies and sectors need less regulation as they are more trustworthy, and tend not to complain. In those sectors whose ethics are conspicuously absent, as ethics tends to zero regulation heads to infinity. Cue gaming and complaints about over regulation. Self-inflicted.
Sectors that generally behave themselves tend to be fairly quiet on regulation. It is seen as providing, the 'rules of the game' and ensuring fair competition and protection for the consumer. In a word, these companies prefer to be ethical and not to damage their customers interests. I've worked with some of them so they do exist. Boeing and the 737Max is an exception that proves the rule. A company with a history of fine engineering, taken over by people with narrow financial interests, undermining and gaming the regulators to get away with poorly designed aircraft. The end result being hundreds of deaths and a company in serious trouble.
The AI sector is conspicuously dominated by some particularly dubious companies whose desire for cutting regulation is highly suspect. 5 minutes studying what is happening in America should make the point. The club of Musk and co, currently doing their best to dismantle regulation in self interest. There are genuine opportunities for some companies to make the effort to be conspicuously transparent and cautious about what they are doing, making it clear that ethical concerns are a priority. I'd recommend a reading of Tim Clement-Jones recent book. Someone with deep understanding and experience of regulation in the sector, but not distracted by fintech sales talk or dreams of avarice.
Thank you, this is really interesting. Is it possible to get access to your report without signing in to Notion, which at the end didn’t yield a copy (probably just me).
A major gap in all these articles is any consideration of the ethics of the industry. Finance, tech, along with property/construction and the City more broadly have dreadful reputations for misbehaviour. Does this really need spelling out with the myriad examples that can be cited? The combination of fin and tech, with the extraordinary concentrations and abuses of power and wealth that we are seeing is a case in point. The least trustworthy people to rely on when it comes to the development of something as important but also potentially threatening as AI.
I have observed over the decades that sectors that complain bitterly about regulation and too often end up with a mass of regulation, are precisely those who are incapable of behaving themselves. Accumulation of wealth, regardless of the consequences, is all that matters. Fines are treated as the cost of doing business. Gaming the system just the norm. Deploying batteries of expensive lawyers to beat (under-resourced) regulators into submission. Regulation ends up being inversely proportional to ethical standards. Highly ethical companies and sectors need less regulation as they are more trustworthy, and tend not to complain. In those sectors whose ethics are conspicuously absent, as ethics tends to zero regulation heads to infinity. Cue gaming and complaints about over regulation. Self-inflicted.
Sectors that generally behave themselves tend to be fairly quiet on regulation. It is seen as providing, the 'rules of the game' and ensuring fair competition and protection for the consumer. In a word, these companies prefer to be ethical and not to damage their customers interests. I've worked with some of them so they do exist. Boeing and the 737Max is an exception that proves the rule. A company with a history of fine engineering, taken over by people with narrow financial interests, undermining and gaming the regulators to get away with poorly designed aircraft. The end result being hundreds of deaths and a company in serious trouble.
The AI sector is conspicuously dominated by some particularly dubious companies whose desire for cutting regulation is highly suspect. 5 minutes studying what is happening in America should make the point. The club of Musk and co, currently doing their best to dismantle regulation in self interest. There are genuine opportunities for some companies to make the effort to be conspicuously transparent and cautious about what they are doing, making it clear that ethical concerns are a priority. I'd recommend a reading of Tim Clement-Jones recent book. Someone with deep understanding and experience of regulation in the sector, but not distracted by fintech sales talk or dreams of avarice.
PS It only structure me afterwards that this is a sector that can be said to have 'Form'. So an ironic name!
And I spent most of my career working around finance and tech...
Thank you, this is really interesting. Is it possible to get access to your report without signing in to Notion, which at the end didn’t yield a copy (probably just me).
Thank you very much.
PS just found your earliest post which has it, which I should of course have checked first, though the useful pdf link has expired.
Thanks Natasha! Here's the report itself: https://formventures.notion.site/Fix-The-Regulators-ce662f90a98b4b469afdef4650510c15?pvs=74