The Normalization of Deviance in AI

The Normalization of Deviance in AI

Such a drift does not happen through a single reckless decision. It happens through a series of “temporary” shortcuts that quietly become the new baseline. Because systems continue to work, teams stop questioning the shortcuts, and the deviation becomes invisible and the new norm.

Especially under competitive pressure for automation, cost savings, a drive to be first, and the overall hype, this dangerous drift is evident. The incentives for speed and winning outweigh the incentives for foundational security. Over time, organizations forget why the guardrails existed in the first place.

This was written a while ago (December 2025 - 6 months ago), so the examples are a little out of date. One from the past month: Instagram accounts were "hacked" by asking Meta's chatbot ... for the account? More or less.