The maxim “Once bitten, twice shy” never seems to apply in politics. We don’t learn. An explosion of concern over the hurtling advance of artificial intelligence seems likely to follow the same pattern as previous panics, which goes like this:

A big scare bursts upon the world; knowing little about it, government and other vested interests massively overreact; naysayers who warn against unnecessary or excessive measures or propose alternatives are excoriated; when, too late, they are proven right, they get no apology; those most responsible for the damage cover their tracks, muttering, “Never acknowledge; never explain.”