Issues in Science and Technology has been leading science and technology policy discussions for more than four decades. Published by the US National Academy of Sciences in partnership with Arizona State University, the magazine is a platform where researchers, government officials, business leaders, and others with a stake in public policy can share ideas with a broad audience. Issues provides deeply informed but highly accessible contributions to public discussions and democratic decisionmaking, enhancing the contribution of science and technology to the creation of a better world.

This 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. What if a country were to create an AI sovereign wealth fund to distribute these profits more equitably? A group of Canadian scholars and legislators proposes to set up just such a fund. And when it comes to trust, a cultural anthropologist argues that CERN, the world’s most successful large-scale science collaboration, has many lessons to offer European regulators about how to build trust and transparency when using AI for science.