We used to until quite recently. Anybody could buy dynamite at the hardware store. We had to end this because of criminals using it to hurt people.
Look for AI to follow a similar trajectory over time.
Yes, regulation is inevitable.
Regulation is impossible. The AI barons literally control the federal government, so not even state regulations get tried.
Impossible at this point. You cannot download dynamite.
Except this time the criminals are police.
They are far more often than anyone wants to admit. That's how we got 25% of the world's prison population.
AFAIK the actual cause for our high incarceration rate is that we have longer sentences. The conviction rate, for example, as compared to the UK is similar.
I admit I was surprised to see you could buy dynamite in a hardware store until 1970.
I remember my Dad yelling at me to "put the dynamite back in the truck" when I was a kid.