(NYT) – A half-century ago, scientists and lawyers agreed to strict self-regulation in DNA research to avoid catastrophe. Can A.I. follow the same model?

It was 51 years ago, and 150 people assembled in the chapel at Asilomar, a rustic conference center on the Monterey Peninsula in California, to address the dangers of recombinant DNA, a discovery only a few years old. Scientists for the first time could combine bits of DNA from different organisms, creating new hybrids that could potentially cure diseases, but that might also unleash virulent new ones.

In that case, scientists did pause and come together to self-regulate how they could safely proceed. The group included the nation’s leading biologists, but also lawyers. The rules that they created did not shut down innovation. Instead, they created the biotechnology industry as we know it. (Read More)