Over the past two years, much of the conversation around technology has been focused on artificial intelligence (AI). While AI may have increased in popularity and already been used in a wide array of products, we are still only just discovering many of its beneficial applications.

AI is much more than popular products like ChatGPT and is truly saving and changing lives in fields like medicine and disaster response. But as we’ve seen in Europe, the wrong policy approach could prevent the development or deployment of many of these beneficial products.

Among the questions to be addressed are: How has policy supported or hindered US innovators and consumers in developing and accessing AI? What lessons might we learn from the policy approaches to past general-purpose technologies? Where does AI and AI policy go next?

This policy forum will start with a fireside chat with Rep. Jay Obernolte (R‑CA), a leading voice on AI policy and co-chair of the House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence.

Following that conversation, a panel of policy experts will discuss the future of AI, the potential impact of policy on this innovation, and more.

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For much of the 21st century, public health officials and policymakers have blamed doctors for overprescribing opioids and causing the overdose crisis. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued pain management guidelines aimed at reducing opioid prescriptions. Most states have codified them into law.

Federal and local drug task forces have arrested doctors whom they accuse of overprescribing opioids. This has led to a situation where many physicians either undertreat pain or choose to abandon their long-term pain patients. As a result, opioid prescribing has dropped below 1992 levels, while overdose deaths among nonmedical users have skyrocketed.

This crackdown has also created a population of “pain refugees”—chronic pain patients who have lost or were abandoned by their doctor and are left searching for a doctor willing to treat them. Many, out of desperation, turn to the black market for relief, while others resort to suicide.

Join us to discuss the pain refugee crisis, its causes, and potential solutions. Our panel includes a physician who treats and advocates for pain patients, an attorney who defends these doctors, a civil rights attorney who is also a patient advocate, and a pain refugee.

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The development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) software for a range of applications has sparked intense debate over its implications for privacy and surveillance in multiple contexts. At the same time, police organizations argue that AI could help revolutionize and speed up police investigations by allowing for faster identification of crime suspects or missing or kidnapped persons.

What are the kinds of dangers posed by the use of AI by law enforcement agencies? Are there types of crimes where the application of AI might be beneficial? How well or poorly are legislative bodies dealing with this new technology? What is the state of the law at the federal, state, and local levels regarding AI use by law enforcement organizations? Our panel will tackle all these topics.

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Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett has played an integral role in the rise of originalism—the movement to identify, restore, and defend the original meaning of the Constitution. But Barnett’s path to becoming an influential professor of constitutional law was not an easy one. Starting from a working-class childhood in Calumet City, Illinois, Barnett’s unusual resume has included stints as an ice cream truck driver, newspaper ad salesman, prosecutor, libertarian theorist, contract law professor, and Supreme Court advocate. In his new autobiography, A Life for Liberty, Barnett tells the complete story of his personal and professional journey.

Barnett’s life story is a model for how libertarians can put their ideas into practice and help change the world. As a young Harvard law student, Barnett had living room debates with Murray Rothbard and served on the board of a libertarian institution with Leonard Liggio and other notable thinkers. Barnett’s focus on individual rights prepared him for the turning point in his career, when he was the only person on a high-profile panel willing to argue that the Ninth Amendment protects “unenumerated rights” from government infringement.

After establishing himself as “Mr. Ninth Amendment,” Barnett eventually pivoted his career to constitutional law. His mission to restore “the lost Constitution” took him from the schoolhouse to the courthouse, where he argued the medical marijuana case Gonzales v. Raich in the Supreme Court—a case now taught to every law student. Later, he devised and spearheaded the constitutional challenge to Obamacare. Today, thanks in part to his efforts, a majority of sitting Supreme Court justices self-identify as originalists.

In this book forum, Professor Barnett will discuss his life story, the lessons he’s learned, and the ways in which his thinking continues to evolve. Professor Jonathan Turley of the George Washington University Law School will offer commentary on the book, drawing from his own perspective as a fellow legal academic.

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Civil discourse is an important aspect of a free and pluralistic democracy. That said, many people do not participate in civil discourse. There are several reasons for this: fear of being wrong, lack of rhetorical skill, negative emotionality, etc. What’s more, this refusal or inability to speak to those with whom we disagree is growing by the day.

Join our virtual discussion as scholars Erec Smith and Jonathan Rauch discuss the art of “mutual persuasion” in a turbulent time.

This conversation is being supported by Project Sphere, a collaboration between the Cato Institute and the Brookings Institution that creates a constructive space to discuss areas of disagreement in a civil forum. Our goal is to resist political polarization by emphasizing areas of agreement even within contentious conversations. To learn more, visit Pro​ject​Sphere​.org.

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What role should tariffs play in the economy? Would tax credits for newborns ease childhood poverty? How might housing be made to be more affordable? In many ways, the 2024 presidential election has been one of dueling and sometimes complementary economic proposals from both major candidates. Join Sphere Education Initiatives on October 29 from 7:30–8:30 p.m. EDT for this webinar exploring the economic policy visions and proposals of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

In their attempts to persuade voters and build winning coalitions, both major party candidates have offered a slew of proposals to change everything from the tax code to the core tenets of trade policy. Which policies have a realistic shot of implementation? And what would be the practical effect on the economy and our lives should they be successful? Brendan Duke, the senior director of economic policy at the Center for American Progress, and Scott Lincicome, the vice president for general economics at the Cato Institute, will join Sphere Education Initiatives for this timely pre‐​election conversation.

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Cato will continue rising to meet liberty’s greatest challenges—from executive power to out-of-control spending in Congress—because doing so is our moral responsibility. Cato president and CEO Peter Goettler will provide an overview of Cato’s commitment to keeping liberty alive for future generations, our priorities, and the investments we are making to advance our vision of a free and open society in which liberty allows every individual to pursue a life of prosperity and meaning in peace. Peter also looks forward to receiving your feedback in a Q&A session.

In 2008, Senior Vice President for Policy Gene Healy wrote The Cult of the Presidency: America’s Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power because he believed the American presidency had become an extraconstitutional monstrosity and a libertarian nightmare, “the source of much of our political woe and some of the gravest threats to our liberties.” For the 2024 presidential election, Cato is re-releasing Healy’s book with a new foreword calling on Americans to change what we ask of the office—or we’ll continue to get, in a sense, what we deserve.

The modern presidency has become a job that is everything from culture warrior in chief to guardian angel. And in our partisan myopia, we’ve unwittingly created the infrastructure for autocratic rule and sectarian warfare. How did we get here, and what can we do to prevent the presidency from tearing the country apart?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cato will continue rising to meet liberty’s greatest challenges—from executive power to out-of-control spending in Congress—because doing so is our moral responsibility. Cato president and CEO Peter Goettler will provide an overview of Cato’s commitment to keeping liberty alive for future generations, our priorities, and the investments we are making to advance our vision of a free and open society in which liberty allows every individual to pursue a life of prosperity and meaning in peace. Peter also looks forward to receiving your feedback in a Q&A session.

In 2008, Senior Vice President for Policy Gene Healy wrote The Cult of the Presidency: America’s Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power because he believed the American presidency had become an extraconstitutional monstrosity and a libertarian nightmare, “the source of much of our political woe and some of the gravest threats to our liberties.” For the 2024 presidential election, Cato is re-releasing Healy’s book with a new foreword calling on Americans to change what we ask of the office—or we’ll continue to get, in a sense, what we deserve.

The modern presidency has become a job that is everything from culture warrior in chief to guardian angel. And in our partisan myopia, we’ve unwittingly created the infrastructure for autocratic rule and sectarian warfare. How did we get here, and what can we do to prevent the presidency from tearing the country apart?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.