What happens when technological change begins moving faster than the institutions designed to govern it? This week, Elisa is joined by Sam Hammond, Director of Artificial Intelligence Policy and Chief Economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, to examine AI as a potentially transformative technological regime change, from autonomous agents and scientific discovery to regulatory disruption, workforce displacement, and new national security risks. They consider how policymakers might preserve AI’s enormous potential while confronting the increasingly difficult question of how to keep its most powerful capabilities under control.

Sam Hammond is Director of Artificial Intelligence Policy and Chief Economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, where his research focuses on artificial intelligence and the institutional impact of emerging technologies.

References:

• Register for the 36th Annual Review of National Security Law CLE Conference – Oct. 8th-9th, at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington, DC
• Samuel Hammond, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. Second Best. August 12, 2026.
• Samuel Hammond, “Europe Blunders on AI”. City Journal. March 22, 2024.
• Samuel Hammond, “AI and Leviathan”. Second Best series. August 23, 2023.
• Anthropic, “Responsible Scaling Policy”
• Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, “Doctronic AI Prescription Renewal Pilot”
• Robert C. Allen, “Engels’ Pause: Technical Change, Capital Accumulation, and Inequality in the British Industrial Revolution” (2009)
• Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash (1992)
• Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower (1993)