Artificial intelligence firms are under immense commercial pressure to release new AI tools, which can lead to a “Hindenburg-style disaster” that shatters global confidence in the technology. Professor Michael Wooldridge of Oxford University warns that companies’ desperation to win customers before fully understanding AI’s capabilities and potential flaws puts safety and testing on the backburner.
Wooldridge notes that the surge in AI chatbots with easily bypassable guardrails highlights the prioritization of commercial incentives over cautious development and safety testing. He compares this scenario to the classic technology disaster, where a promising but under-tested technology is rushed to market due to unbearable pressure.
The risk of a major incident, such as a software update for self-driving cars or an AI-powered hack that grounds global airlines, is “very plausible,” Wooldridge says. However, he emphasizes that he does not intend to attack modern AI, which he believes has been misrepresented.
Wooldridge points out that contemporary AI chatbots are neither sound nor complete, but rather approximate and prone to unpredictable failures. They provide confident answers despite lacking understanding when they are wrong, often leading to misleading responses in human-like interactions.
The issue is further exacerbated by companies’ desire to present AIs as human-like, which can lead people to treat them as such. Wooldridge warns that this approach is “very dangerous” and urges a more nuanced understanding of AI’s limitations.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/feb/17/ai-race-hindenburg-style-disaster-a-real-risk-michael-wooldridge