How technology and artificial intelligence can improve regulation

These days, when presidents want to make policy, they often do it through their powers to regulate. The recent move by the Trump administration to relax fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles is one of many recent, high-profile examples. But federal agencies cannot just do whatever they want: There are legal rules that have been in place since the 1940s that require agencies to solicit and consider public input. Unfortunately, those rules have mostly been frozen in the mid-20th century and have not adapted to the new technological environment. For example, opportunities to learn about and comment on regulation abound online, leading to an explosion of public participation.