Perspective Here's how to regulate artificial intelligence properly

The risks of an omnibus approach become clearer when we try to apply well-intentioned principles to specific, difficult policy trade-offs. Many regard European data privacy law as creating a comprehensive "right to explanation," requiring a human-readable justification for decisions rendered by AI systems. In some situations, that's an entirely appropriate demand, but in others it may unduly limit breakthrough innovations. A system that can accurately diagnose cancer by identifying enormously complex patterns in a patient's medical records, for example, might not be able to explain how it came to that conclusion. If it were effective and safe, however, shouldn't it be lawful, even if it isn't interpretable?