Keeping AI on the Straight and Narrow: Why Oversight Can’t Be an Afterthought

As AI models grow more powerful—and more unpredictable—the demand for meaningful governance is no longer optional. It’s foundational.

The Economist cuts to the heart of this tension in its recent piece: how do we ensure models operate within bounds we can trust, especially when even their creators don’t fully understand how they work? The article calls for a blend of technical, institutional, and regulatory guardrails to prevent misuse and mitigate harm—not just after deployment, but throughout the entire development lifecycle.

For product counsel, this is the new frontier. Our role isn’t simply to “approve the launch.” It’s to co-create governance with engineering, product, compliance, and risk teams from day one. That means asking harder questions:

— What is this model optimized for—and what unintended outcomes could that create?

— Where is transparency required, and where is it lacking?

— Who is accountable when things go wrong?

Legal teams must be embedded—not adjacent—to AI development. This isn’t about redlining after the fact. It’s about enabling innovation within a structure of trust.

The article reminds us: as AI systems become more capable, it’s governance—not just code—that will keep them aligned with human values, legal norms, and organizational purpose.

The future of product counseling isn’t just about mitigating liability. It’s about designing with foresight, partnering across disciplines, and making sure every model is deployed with intention and integrity.

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📖 https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/04/24/how-to-keep-ai-models-on-the-straight-and-narrow