07. Next Steps - Pilots, Law Drafts, and Public Buy-In

Fine-Insured Bounties (FIBs) offer a bold, market-driven way to deter high-risk behavior—especially around powerful technologies like AI. But even the best theoretical framework needs a practical path forward. So what should happen next?

Here are three concrete, actionable next steps:

1. Run Pilot Programs

Before applying FIBs to high-stakes areas like AI, we should test them in more controlled settings.

Candidate pilot areas include:

• Environmental enforcement (e.g., illegal dumping, toxic waste discharge)
• Financial misconduct (e.g., insider trading, false reporting)
• Safety rule violations in biotech or heavy industry

These domains already have legal boundaries, measurable harm, and known enforcement gaps—perfect testing grounds for FIB dynamics.

Goals of pilots:

• Measure how people respond to bounties
• Observe insurer behavior: do they monitor well? Do premiums shift predictably?
• Identify rates of false reporting, blackmail attempts, and collusion

Small-scale experiments, even just within a single state or sector, could yield vital insights about real-world dynamics—and build a playbook for larger deployments.

2. Draft Model Laws and Treaty Language

We need clear, modular legal frameworks that:

• Define the prohibited behaviors and thresholds
• Set fine and bounty formulas (ideally pegged to estimated social harm)
• Lay out the process for reporting, adjudicating, and paying bounties
• Mandate liability insurance for covered actors
• Include safeguards against abuse (e.g., penalties for bad-faith reports or secret settlements)

Model legislation can help lawmakers move quickly when ready, and it enables debate over specifics without starting from scratch.

On the international side, model treaty clauses can offer a template for future coordination—whether among democratic allies or via broader global forums.

3. Build Public Awareness and Support

FIBs may be unfamiliar or even counterintuitive to the average citizen. Public understanding and support are essential, especially for elected officials to back such policies.

That means:

• Framing FIBs as a whistleblower empowerment system, not “bounty hunting”
• Highlighting how they protect the public from catastrophic risks
• Sharing compelling success stories when early pilot programs work

People already respond well to stories of insiders exposing fraud, corruption, or danger. FIBs supercharge that energy—but they need a human face and a moral narrative to gain traction.

Public support also helps inoculate against early criticism or setbacks. No system is perfect out of the gate. Clear communication and transparency will be key.

The Road Ahead

FIBs are still a radical idea—but not untested. Pieces of the concept already exist in law, insurance, and incentive design. Now it’s time to combine those pieces in real-world settings.

With focused pilots, thoughtful legal drafting, and effective outreach, we can turn fine-insured bounties from theory into a viable, scalable tool for a safer technological future.