Foresighting Futures: Law, New Technologies, and the Challenges of Regulating for Uncertainty

It is perhaps trite but worth repeating that existing social and legal systems aimed at promoting human wellbeing and prosperity face significant and multi-faceted challenges. Some come from the natural world and some from humankind itself. Of the latter, some come from the way we behave and treat each other, some from the way we interact with and wish to shape our environment, and, most challenging of all, some come from the way we envision and seek to shape our future. Many of these implicate the law. Indeed, never have we demanded so much from our legal and regulatory frameworks and those who operate them, and never have they faced so many pressures and variables. The following captures the character of the times:

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