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May 15, 2024
Automation Isn’t Just One Thing: Insights from Two Census Datasets
Two recent datasets from the Census help to illuminate what’s occurring in robotics and in artificial intelligence adoption. While they have their limitations, both the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES) for robotic equipment and the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) AI supplement offer valuable information on the progress of automation. Annual Capital Expenditures Survey…
May 13, 2024
Wind Dreams
The optimal amount of practical wind power in the global energy mix is greater than zero. It is also much less than 100%. Today I argue why the proportion of wind power in the global electricity generation mix is always going to be closer to zero than to 100%. That doesn’t mean that wind power…
May 11, 2024
Bullish on Solar
I was reminded, following last week’s post on challenges faced by wind energy, that some people seem to view energy technologies like football teams. They have their favorite, who they support no matter how bad the losing position. And of course they also have their arch rivals, to be cheered against no matter what. Above all,…
May 10, 2024
May 6, 2024: Beyond the SCIF: A Conversation with Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) on AI and Biosecurity
Event Summary On May 6, following introductory remarks by Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Mike Turner (R-OH), Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) moderated a panel with AEI’s Dan Blumenthal, Anna Puglisi of Puglisi Ventures, Anthony Ruggiero of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Palantir’s Ken Staley, and Dov S. Zakheim of the…
April 30, 2024
We Must End the Litigation Doom Loop
A federal judge recently issued an injunction to block the approval of a powerline that would have connected 161 renewable energy projects to the electric grid, providing more clean energy to consumers in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. This is the second time this project, known as the Cardinal-Hickory transmission line, has been blocked by an injunction in…
April 30, 2024
Six Takeaways from Stanford University’s 2024 Report on the State AI
The 2024 Artificial Intelligence Index, released by Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), delivers crucial insights into AI’s influence and developments. This detailed yearly report presents a data-based overview of AI’s progress across significant areas, including research, ethics, policy, public perception, and economics. A few highlights from the report are below. AI Beats Humans…
April 9, 2024
April 22, 2024: 30 Years of Environmental Progress: Is It Time at Last to Be Optimistic?
For years, American environmentalists held a largely pessimistic outlook on our planet’s future. But recently, the environmental movement has seen significant changes. Join Steven F. Hayward—a resident scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, who previously authored an AEI book on favorable environmental trends—for a presentation on how the trend data demonstrate the momentum of…
April 9, 2024
Complexity, Permissionless Innovation, and the English Dance
The dreary weather this week in Chicago has been dispiriting, making me feel listless and in need of a mood lift. Nothing does the trick like two of my favorite things: examples of emergence in complex systems, and Jane Austen, especially when I can think about ways to apply the analysis to reducing barriers to…
April 9, 2024
Judicial Rulemaking and Lucidity: Justice Barrett’s First Amendment Opinion in Lindke v. Freed
Fashioning constitutional rules isn’t easy; Justice Barrett and the Court deserve kudos for their efforts to establish a rule to determine if public officials’ activities constitute state action.
April 9, 2024
The TikTok Ban’s Free Speech Dilemma
TikTok is a perfect villain. The app seems to be connected with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It’s where Osama Bin Laden’s manifesto picked up traction and where antisemitic tropes run amok. TikTok’s impact on kids isn’t heartening, and its data security problems are serious. Still, I’ve got some trepidation about the TikTok bill that just passed the House by a vote…