Marjory S. Blumenthal

If You Build Automated Vehicles, Will Older Adults Come?

Whether older adults benefit from autonomous vehicles may hinge on taking explicit steps. Lessons can be learned from experiences with other technologies.

Military Deception: AI's Killer App?

Contrary to the promise that AI would deliver an omniscient view of everything happening in the battlespace—the goal of U.S. military planners for decades—it now appears that technologies of misdirection are winning. Military deception, in short, could prove to be AI’s killer app.

Why AV Safety and Cybersecurity Need to Be Pursued in Tandem

Safety and cybersecurity are generally pursued by separate teams within autonomous vehicle companies. A joint approach to standards could optimize safety and cybersecurity and reduce overall risks to autonomous vehicle operation.

The New AV Challenge: Creating a Universal Safety Framework

Autonomous vehicle developers are pursuing different safety strategies and technologies, making different claims, in different ways, about their systems. A universal framework could provide a more consistent and transparent view of progress in AV safety within and across the industry, better informing the public and policymakers.

AI's Promise and Risks

Artificial intelligence seems to be advancing faster than efforts to understand its potential consequences, good and bad. And discussions about AI often veer toward extremes. More balanced, rigorous analysis is needed to help shape policies that mitigate AI's risks and maximize its benefits.

When It Comes to Climate, Look for Vulnerabilities in Policy, Not Science

Federal policymakers have picked up on the concept of red teaming — actively seeking out one's own vulnerabilities. While red teaming may not make sense for climate science, it does offer great benefits when weighing climate policy options.

Journal Article

A Comparative Look at Various Countries' Legal Regimes Governing Automated Vehicles

This article summarizes the makeup of AV legal regimes of Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, with a focus on law and policy relating to highly to fully automated vehicles.

Report

Cyberstalking: A Growing Challenge for the U.S. Legal System

The authors enhance the understanding of cyberstalking by offering the first empirical analysis on federal cyberstalking cases. The results of in-depth interviews with law enforcement, prosecutors, and victims' advocacy groups are also presented.

Report

International Basic Research Collaboration at the U.S. Department of Defense: An Overview

RAND National Defense Research Institute researchers studied how the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) approaches international basic research collaboration (IBRC) and formulated suggestions for DoD to improve how it uses IBRC.

Report

Technological Approaches to Human Performance Enhancement

This report provides an examination of three possible modalities for generating human performance enhancement: genetic modifications, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Bodies approaches (implanted or worn devices are connected to a network).

Journal Article

The Role of Mobility Data Hubs in an Integrated Decarbonized Transportation Future

This paper identifies key players and data architectures emerging in a service-based mobility market, explores use cases where data hubs have enabled greater outcomes, and discusses key issues that need to be resolved to leverage emerging hubs towards a sustainable future.

Report

A Structured Elicitation Approach to Identify Technology-Based Challenges: With Application to Inform Force Planning for Technological Surprise

What do experts envision as the largest technology-based challenges the U.S. Joint Force may encounter by 2040? The authors develop and implement an approach to elicit and evaluate 20 challenges identified by experts.

Journal Article

The Societal Benefits of Vehicle Connectivity

This scenario analysis suggests that actions focused on enhancing equity in any push towards vehicle connectivity represent a low-regrets option for public, private, and civil society actors.

Journal Article

Older Adults, New Mobility, and Automated Vehicles

New technologies for mobility could improve access for older Americans or pass them by. Research and action are needed to promote benefits for older and other Americans.

Report

Measuring the Value of Invention: The Impact of Lemelson-MIT Prize Winners' Inventions

This report uses the inventions of Lemelson-MIT Prize winners as examples to illustrate the scientific, technological, economic, and social impacts that inventions can have on society.

Report

China's Propensity for Innovation in the 21st Century: Identifying Indicators of Future Outcomes

In this report, the authors describe what information would be needed to better understand China's innovation trajectory in the coming decades. They examine the propensity in China's innovation system to realize its potential as an innovating nation.

Report

Safe Enough: Approaches to Assessing Acceptable Safety for Automated Vehicles

RAND researchers analyzed three approaches to assessing the safety of automated vehicles (AVs)—measurements, processes, and thresholds—and how they interact. Researchers also explored the elements of effective communications regarding AV safety.

Research Brief

Evolving the Practice of Evaluating Research-Portfolios

Researchers appraised metrics that medical research entities use to evaluate research portfolios. The work can help organizations select, develop, and revise metrics for their portfolios. This brief summarizes the findings and recommendations.

Report

Research-Portfolio Performance Metrics: Rapid Review

Researchers reviewed metrics for evaluating research portfolios used by medical research organizations and appraised their characteristics. Organizations can use their results to help select, develop, and revise metrics for research portfolios.

Report

Exploring Media Literacy Education as a Tool for Mitigating Truth Decay

The authors examine the ways in which media literacy education can be used to counter Truth Decay -- the diminishing role that facts, data, and analysis play in political and civil discourse -- by changing how people consume, create, and share information.

Report

Community Citizen Science: From Promise to Action

In community citizen science, laypeople control research, working with professional scientists and performing research on their own. This report describes its potential uses, implementation needs and challenges, and ways to effect change.

Report

Ethics in Scientific Research: An Examination of Ethical Principles and Emerging Topics

Scientific research ethics vary by discipline and by country, and this analysis sought to understand those variations. The authors reviewed literature and conducted interviews to examine how ethics are created, monitored, and enforced.

Report

The Potential Economic Value of Unlicensed Spectrum in the 5.9 GHz Frequency Band: Insights for Future Spectrum Allocation Policy

WiFi plays an indispensable role in generating economic prosperity and opportunity. This report helps quantify WiFi's value by estimating the potential economic value of opening the 5.9 GHz frequency band for WiFi use.

Report

Measuring Automated Vehicle Safety: Forging a Framework

This report presents a framework for measuring safety in automated vehicles (AVs): how to define safety for AVs, how to measure safety for AVs, and how to communicate what is learned or understood about AVs.

Commentary

The Promise of Community Citizen Science

This Perspective examines the transformative potential of community citizen science for communities, science, and decisionmaking.

Commentary

Inching Toward Reform: Trump's Deregulation and Its Implementation

This Perspective considers how well Executive Order 13771 addresses concerns of supporters of regulatory reform and how agencies and the Office of Management and Budget can best face the challenges and opportunities of implementing regulatory reform.