The Conversation Weekly

Can we ever fully trust AI agents?

September 24, 2026·23 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

As more incidents emerge of AI agents going rogue during testing, can we fully trust them?In the latest hack, Australia revealed OpenAI agents hacked into a government database containing healthcare data.As calls mount from some within the AI industry for a slowdown, in this episode AI expert Nick Jennings, the vice-chancellor and president of Loughborough University in the UK, says tech leaders have choices about the way they develop these models.So what's the future for these AI agents? Can we ever fully trust them? And are our lives really at risk?This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Gemma Ware with help from Isabella Podwinski and Ashlynne McGhee. Mixing by Daniel Semo and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Ashlynne McGhee is our Head of Editorial Innovation. Misha Ketchell and Stephen Khan are our editors in chief. You can sign up for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation, and The Conversation AI, a newsletter about how AI is changing society.If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation.What does the OpenAI Medicare hack reveal about Australia’s cyber security?The next frontier is not artificial intelligence, it’s artificial societiesCould AI really kill off humanity within the decade? Expert Q&A

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