When AI tests cause damage, we need stronger safeguards and real accountability

When a cybersecurity experiment goes wrong, the public response is predictable: Find out who is responsible, punish them, compensate the victims and make sure it never happens again.

That instinct is understandable. But imagine if automakers tested every vehicle at only 20 miles per hour because they feared a crash-test car might escape the warehouse. The public might be protected from a runaway test vehicle, but manufacturers would learn little about how cars perform under dangerous real-world conditions.