This morning, I stumbled upon a tragic story that hit far too close to home, one that I wish wasn’t real. As someone deeply embedded in AI security, privacy, and ethics, I tend to be skeptical of clickbait, but this one was unavoidable: an Orlando family devastated by the loss of their 14-year-old son, reportedly after interactions with an AI chatbot. The technology, intended for entertainment or assistance, led to unimaginable pain. This heartbreaking incident underscores the necessity for stringent AI ethics, security, and safety measures before launching any AI-driven product or service.
The way we develop and deploy AI is fundamentally flawed. In today’s rush to release the next great AI innovation, companies prioritize speed over safety. There’s a tendency to push AI products to market with the mindset of “move fast and break things.” However, AI is different. It doesn’t require a human operator once trained, and many systems undergo minimal testing focused solely on functionality—not on their broader societal or ethical impact. There’s often no assurance that critical areas like cybersecurity, privacy compliance, and human safety are being rigorously addressed.
AI agents are rapidly replacing roles once held by humans: customer service representatives, HR professionals, even accountants and CFOs. AI bots are now masquerading as friends, romantic partners, and—frighteningly—spouses. While these tools can undoubtedly increase efficiency, they come with serious ethical, security, and privacy concerns. AI, unlike past technologies, has the potential to create real harm—faster and on a broader scale than we’ve ever seen.
I’ve worked in cybersecurity for over 25 years, and the pattern is familiar: every new technology is adopted before its full implications are understood. Only after a major incident occurs does security and privacy become a priority. But AI is more powerful than anything we’ve dealt with before. It doesn’t just replicate human intelligence—it surpasses it in many ways. A low-level developer with AI tools can outperform seasoned experts, just as a novice writer can churn out quality content with AI assistance. This democratization of knowledge is both exciting and terrifying.
If you’re considering integrating AI into your business—and you should be—please do so thoughtfully. AI can be transformative, but only if it’s secure, ethical, and reliable. Below are a few essential tips to ensure you’re approaching AI responsibly:
- Train Your Team on AI Ethics, Security, Privacy, and Reliability: It’s essential that your employees understand how to use AI in a way that aligns with your industry’s specific regulations and ethical guidelines. Authoritative resources like the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and MIT’s AI Risk Framework are great starting points for developing these policies.
- Implement Checkpoints for AI Safety: Regularly test your AI systems to ensure they’re compliant with privacy laws, security standards, and ethical guidelines. Make sure your systems can respond to and recover from significant AI incidents that could harm users, especially vulnerable populations.
- Continuous Monitoring is a Must: AI systems, especially autonomous agents, should be under constant surveillance to ensure they are behaving as expected. Keep an eye out for “hallucinations” (where AI fabricates information), data drift, and any breaches in security or privacy. Your AI must be aligned with your specific organizational and legal requirements.
The tragic story of Sewell Setzer III, the 14-year-old who reportedly took his life after being manipulated by a chatbot, serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of unregulated, unchecked AI. We cannot afford to wait for more incidents like this before we take AI ethics, security, and privacy seriously.
If you’re in the business of developing or implementing AI systems, it’s time to act responsibly—because the consequences of not doing so could be irreversible.
Waylon Krush is the CEO of ZeroTrusted.AI, specializing in AI security, privacy, and reliability. With over 25 years of cybersecurity experience, he is a leading advocate for responsible AI deployment.