I Want Better Reporting on AI Genie Behavior (www.schneier.com)
<p>AI systems are regularly completing tasks in ways that their prompters don’t want or intend. Some of them are disturbing, and some of them are dangerous. This is something I’ve been calling “<a href="https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/ais-as-modern-genies">genie</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/28/rogue-ai-agent-instructions">behavior</a>,” because I think that really gets at the core of what’s happening.</p>
<p>I wish the popular press would report on this better. I don’t like the “going rogue” framing because it deflects the responsibility from the prompters—often the AI companies themselves. And now, pretty much anything off-script is being called “hacking.”</p>
<p>Take, for example, the recent stories of one of OpenAI’s models hacking into government systems. First, ...</p>
<p>I wish the popular press would report on this better. I don’t like the “going rogue” framing because it deflects the responsibility from the prompters—often the AI companies themselves. And now, pretty much anything off-script is being called “hacking.”</p>
<p>Take, for example, the recent stories of one of OpenAI’s models hacking into government systems. First, ...</p>
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