Issues in Science and Technology

In “Escaping AI’s Measurement Trap” (Issues, Summer 2026), Urs Gasser, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, and Fabienne Marco make a compelling case that governance of artificial intelligence faces a problem. Once benchmarks become targets, systems and their developers adapt to them, and measured performance may increasingly diverge from behavior in the real world.

AI Safeguards Aren’t Protecting Teens, Study Finds October 12, 2026 A new AI-powered app called ChatGPT for Teens, touted as safer for young users, still fails to provide adequate protections, according to a new study reported by NPR, though its developer disputes the findings. In Issues, J. B.

There is much discussion on how artificial intelligence poses threats to biosecurity; there should be at least as much focus on how AI can expand the solutions. Today’s biosecurity approach is still grounded in a foundation laid nearly two decades ago.

Vol. , No. , Fall 2026 Table of Contents The Fall 2026 issue explores how artificial intelligence might affect public policy in a variety of domains. Take biosecurity: Despite the fear that AI could be used to engineer dangerous pathogens, a former FBI special agent argues that the technology can also be used to uncover suspicious activity and possible bad actors before they become a threat. On economic policy: Spectacular wealth from AI will accrue to relatively few companies and individuals.

As data centers have become a national political issue, they have been accused of many things, including “breaking American politics.” However, deliberation over proposals for data center construction plays out at the community level, often with significantly more nuance. Although city and state governments are under pressure to make the local benefits of development visible, they must search for strategies that squeeze value out of these negotiations for their communities.

Woman Set for Execution for Crime Committed as Teenager Tennessee plans to execute a woman for her role in a murder when she was 18 years old, but a New York Times opinion essay argues that no one should face the death penalty for a crime committed at such a young age.

In “A Science Funding System Beyond the Linear Model” (Issues, Spring 2026), Heather Douglas asks funders to move past the distinction between “basic” and “applied” research. She proposes six categories: mission-directed research, engaged public research, private-interest research, regulatory research, Big Science infrastructure, and curiosity-based research.

Addressing Public Concerns About Data Centers September 25, 2026 Americans are growing more concerned about possible environmental and economic effects of data centers, and a majority would be “uncomfortable if a new data center started operating in their area,” the Pew Research Center reports. In Issues, Gretchen T.

When I first started editing Wikipedia in 2012, a couple of years into my doctoral program in communication, it was with reluctance. I attended an event at Pitzer College in Southern California aimed at improving the representation of women online—Wikipedia’s gender gap is well-documented—but found the volunteerism off-putting. I’d worked as a journalist before going into academia, and for my doctoral research, I was using feminist theory to explain the devaluation of writing work online.

The same day I made my 10,000th edit on my beloved but chaotic GayFactpedia (no, there’s no actual uncorrected proof of Pride and Prejudice where Elizabeth Bennet runs off with Charlotte Lucas—put that in the “Speculation” section), I reached my breaking point. It arrived in the form of a book. A (ghostwritten) autobiography that I had been hired to fact-check had been published, and I was entitled to one contributor copy.