Being Novel? Regulating Emerging Technologies Under Conditions of Uncertainty

If we accept that at some point novel beings will be brought into existence, then we need to consider how the law should take account of (the emergence of) such beings. This is a sticky problem, because any attempt to engage in preparatory regulation with respect to novel beings is mired in uncertainty. Put simply, we do not know what type of beings they will be, either in terms of their physical nature/embodiment or mental/cognitive characteristics. As a consequence, we lack the relevant context-dependent information needed to propose a detailed regulatory regime. In light of this epistemic uncertainty, in this chapter we do not propose a detailed account of law and regulation for novel beings. Instead, we outline a range of normative principles which could help guide the regulation of precursor technologies without undermining our ability to appropriately regulate emerging novel beings in the future.