Last posts I shared: - Guardrails 101 (copy/paste checklist), and - AI Safety for Non-Tech Builders (driver’s-ed framing) Those sparked good questions — “Okay, but how do I actually think about risk like this?” And in the comments, @Nicholas Vidal pushed the conversation into real, operational safety — ownership, kill-switch, reality checks — and @Kevin Farrugia added the “nightmare in one sentence” idea people really resonated with. So I turned that into something you can actually run: A 20-minute “nightmare scenario drill” for any AI feature — even if you’re not technical. Before you start: 4 Guardian Questions If you remember nothing else, remember these: 1. What’s the worst-case? 2. Who moves first? 3. How do they stop it fast? 4. How do we prevent the repeat? Everything below is just a structured way to answer those. ———————— Quick definitions (so non-tech people stay with us): - Threat model = simple version of → “What could go wrong, and who could get hurt?” - Kill switch = → “How do we pause/disable this fast if it misbehaves?” - Audit log = → “A record of what happened, so we can see when/where it went wrong.” ———————— You don’t need to be a security engineer to use these. You just need the right questions. Step 1 — One-sentence nightmare ✅ (Kevin’s point) Write this: “If this goes wrong, the worst thing that could happen is…” Examples: - “Our AI chatbot leaks customer data in a reply.” - “Our content tool generates harmful content with our brand on it.” - “Our automation sends 500 wrong emails before anyone notices.” If you can’t write this sentence, you’re not ready to ship. ———————— Step 2 — Owner + alert ✅ (Nick & Kevin) Now add: - Owner: “If this nightmare starts, who is responsible for acting?”(name + role, one person) - Alert: “How do they find out?”(email, Slack, SMS…) If everyone owns safety, no one owns safety.

(Updated) I thought this might be useful because a lot of people want to “build with AI” but don’t have a security background — and safety talk often turns into either fear… or vague theory. This is neither. This is a simple, repeatable checklist you can copy into your project and run every time (like a pre-flight check). If you can follow a recipe, you can follow this. When to run it Run this checklist: - Before you launch - After any new feature - After any security news/alert - Once per month as a quick maintenance habit 🔒 Guardrails 101 (Copy/Paste Template) Project name: Owner (who is accountable): Where it’s hosted (platform): Last checked (date): 1) What are we building? (1–2 lines) - AI feature(s): - What users can do with it: 2) Data & privacy (what touches what) - What data is used? (none / basic / personal / sensitive) - Where is it stored? - Who can access it? Rule: If personal data is involved → minimize it and document why it’s needed. 3) Secrets & access (high priority) - ✅ 2FA enabled on: email / GitHub / hosting / admin dashboards - ✅ API keys stored safely (not in chats, screenshots, or public repos) - ✅ Least access: only people who need it have it - ✅ “Rotate keys” plan exists (where/how) 4) Updates & patching (boring but essential) - Dependencies/framework updated: ✅ / ❌ (date) - Hosting/platform updates: ✅ / ❌ - If a critical alert happens: who patches within 24–48h? 5) Monitoring (can we see problems early?) - Logs enabled: ✅ / ❌ - Alerts enabled for suspicious activity / errors: ✅ / ❌ - Who receives alerts? 6) Abuse & misuse (what could go wrong?) Quick answers: - Most likely misuse case: - Nightmare scenario (1 sentence): “If this goes wrong, the worst thing is…” - How we reduce it (rate limits / permissions / filters): - What we will NOT allow the AI to do: 7) Kill-switch & rollback (must-have) - Can we disable the AI feature quickly? ✅ / ❌ - Where is the “off switch”? - How do we roll back changes?

A lot of AI safety talk gets stuck in “it’s complicated.” It doesn’t have to be. If you’re building with AI (even if you’re not technical), you can reduce risk a lot with a few default habits—the same way we made cars safer with seatbelts, rules of the road, and inspections. 1) Who teaches this? Not “the government.” Not “experts on Twitter.” You + your builder + your tools. Think of it like “AI driver’s ed”: - 20% is mindset (responsibility) - 80% is checklist + routines (what to do every time) 2) How should it be taught? Not by fear. Not by theory. By simple checklists + examples. If you can follow a recipe, you can follow this. ✅ The Non-Tech Guardrails Checklist (print this) A) Secrets & passwords (most common failure) - Use two-factor authentication on everything - Don’t paste API keys into screenshots or chats - Store keys in a proper “secrets” place (your dev will know) - If something feels off: rotate keys (replace them) B) Updates (the boring part that saves you) - If your app is public: ask your dev:“Do we patch security updates weekly?” - If you don’t have a dev: use managed platforms that update for you. C) Logs (so you can see trouble early) Ask: “Do we have logs turned on?” If the answer is “not really,” you’re flying blind. D) Ownership (someone must be responsible) For every AI feature ask: - “Who owns this if it breaks?” - “Who gets alerted?” - “What’s the rollback plan?” E) Kill-switch (simple off button) Every AI feature needs a way to pause it: - “Can we turn it off in 1 minute if needed?” 3) How do we “pressure” the world to do better? You don’t need to lobby governments to make progress. The fastest levers are: - Customer expectations (“we only buy tools with safety basics”) - Platform defaults (secure-by-default settings) - Procurement rules (“no guardrails = no contract”) - Community standards (we normalize checklists) Bottom line Cheerleaders can cheer. Builders can build.

I’m reading a book called The War of Art and I’m reminded that the real enemy to our progress isn’t lack of talent… it’s resistance. Resistance shows up as hesitation. As overthinking. As “I’ll start tomorrow.” As telling yourself you need one more tutorial, one more plan, one more perfect moment. But the truth is, resistance doesn’t show up when something doesn’t matter. Resistance shows up when you’re getting close to the thing that could change your life. So if you feel the pull to procrastinate today…If your mind is trying to talk you out of learning something new…If you're convincing yourself you’re not ready yet… Good. That’s the signal. That means you’re right on the edge of growth. Instead of trying to defeat resistance in one big heroic moment, do what actually works: Show up for one small action. Learn one thing. Try one messy draft. Take one uncomfortable step. You don’t need to win the war today. You just need to win this moment. Because motion breaks resistance. Momentum quiets the fear. And once you start, everything gets easier. So ask yourself: What is the one simple thing you can do today...right now...that Resistance doesn’t want you to do? Do that. Post it below. Let’s make today the day we move forward anyway.

Today a startup announced they’ve built the first AGI-capable system one that can teach itself new skills with zero human data or guidance. Cool headline. Terrifying implication. Because if that’s even halfway true, here’s the question nobody in the hype cycle wants to ask: Who teaches it what not to do? Autonomy is the real milestone not intelligence. The moment an AI: - learns without us - tests without us - improves without us - and makes decisions faster than we can correct them…we stop being the operators and start being the variable. I’m not here to argue whether Integral AI actually achieved AGI. There’s no proof. No peer review. Right now it’s just a marketing flex with a sci-fi caption. But the pattern matters: We’re sprinting toward systems we can’t override before we’ve built systems we can control This isn’t anti-AI. It’s anti-blind optimism. “Relax nothing will go wrong.” So here’s where I stand: Claim AGI all you want. But show me: independent safety verification a visible human-in-command switch proof it fails safely someone accountable when it doesn’t Until then, these announcements are just the tech industry yelling: “Trust us.” And trust without guardrails isn’t innovation it’s negligence. AI can change the world. But if humans aren’t guaranteed to stay in command…we may not like the world it decides to build….. #GuardianProject #HumanFirst #AISafety #AccountabilityMatters