Governing the AI transition: Lessons from the 1996 Telecommunications Act

The last time Congress attempted to legislate in the midst of a technology transition was the Telecommunications Act of 1996, signed into law by President Clinton on Feb. 8, 1996. The new law updated the Communications Act of 1934. A 30-year look back can help inform today’s discussion about a national policy for the destabilizing effects of artificial intelligence. Thirty years ago, the destabilizing event was the shift from analog to digital technology. The effect was to collapse long-established business categories and scramble market structures. In a prescient move that informs today, the new act did not seek to predict the path of technology but focused on the market structures that would determine that future. Today, as AI reshapes the economy and society, a new wave of destabilizing technological forces has returned. The ’96 act is not merely a story about “telecom”—it is a case study in governing a technological transition. It is a story of determining what the government should regulate—technology or power—and the importance of an expert agency to oversee the process.