Early Warning

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Chapter 2 examines the phase when individuals and small groups begin sounding alarms about technological risks but struggle to move institutions to act. Early warnings create friction but whether those warnings gain traction depends on three conditions that lower the activation energy for response: institutional readiness, market pressure, and reactive learning. Regulators act more quickly when existing frameworks can be repurposed, firms respond when reputational or financial stakes rise, and public- and private-sector actors adjust when earlier failures heighten sensitivity to risk. Together, these factors shape how societies register and respond to emerging technological dangers in the interval before crisis. The cases of social media and artificial intelligence reveal how, even when warnings arise earlier, societies still struggle to convert awareness into prevention before crisis hits.</jats:p>