AI regulation answers the wrong question

This analysis by David Nellor, published by the Lowy Institute's The Interpreter, argues that governments are mistakenly focusing on regulating artificial intelligence (AI) as the primary policy challenge. Drawing on historical parallels from the Industrial Revolution, the author contends that the real task is institutional innovation—building the rules, organizations, and coordinating mechanisms needed for an AI-enabled economy. The piece suggests that reactive regulation of transient AI controversies distracts from addressing enduring collective action problems in areas like labor markets, public goods, and trust. It calls for a shift from regulating AI as a technology to diagnosing the new economic and social functions AI creates and developing the institutional capabilities those functions require.