The Download: AI’s Refusal Problem and Weight-Loss Drug Side Effects
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.
We’re Putting Too Much Faith in AI’s Ability to Say No
Today’s AI models are trained to refuse a vast number of prompts. Ask a chatbot how to poison a colleague or tie a noose, and it will likely decline. But refusal fails—sometimes horrifically. In 2026, as AI systems become more deeply integrated into critical infrastructure, healthcare, and defense, the stakes of these failures have never been higher.
Some people are attempting to use AI to hone biological pathogens and build autonomous drone swarms. Sooner or later, failed refusals may result in global calamity. What’s more, relying on refusal means drawing a line between what a model should obey and what it must disobey. Governments will also get to draw their own lines, potentially restricting free speech. At the same time, the capabilities that make AI useful could also make it dangerous. If we want it to help cure cancer, AI needs genetics expertise that could also produce bioweapons.
Read the full story on the formidable tradeoffs of AI refusal.
—Arthur Holland Michel
This story is from the next issue of our print magazine.