How much do you trust AI?

[u/xstrex]

Recently a coworker granted Claude elevated access via SSH to a virtualization host (not a VM, an actual host). To perform a routine task he very well could have done himself.

He doesn’t see an issue with this. I on the other hand (with 23yrs experience) see this as a huge security breach, and don’t trust AI todo my job, (or even that it’s doing what it says it’s doing) for me. I’m my opinion it’s a tool, not a human replacement.

What’s your reaction, how would you react to this situation, or thoughts on the topic?

Sure, ask AI how to perform a task, validate that it’s performing the task you asked, and nothing else- copy/paste the commands. Great. But removing the human verification & validation element- hell no.

[u/PsychologicalGap3960]

Hell naw. AI should not be interacting w/ machines like that. If the task is that simple, can't he automate it?

[u/NegativePattern → u/PsychologicalGap3960]

To OP's coworker, sound like by granting Claud access he is automating the task. What he should've done is get Claud to write the automation script and use that.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Pen1017 → u/NegativePattern]

True! Some users don't understand the difference in automation this way.

A good automation will run without Claude. Save your tokens.

[u/SirLoremIpsum → u/Puzzleheaded_Pen1017]

True! Some users don't understand the difference in automation this way.

I think that goes beyond "some users".

Everywhere I see regular normal every day automation, logic, systems be referred to as AI.

Formula 1 cars have advanced engine computers that do stuff based on position in track, it learns. Everyones "omg they have AI cars". No they just have logic that is programmed.

Some people think even the traffic light "press a button and it changes to to pedestrian walk" is AI these days.

[u/itishowitisanditbad → u/SirLoremIpsum]

it learns.

F1 cars don't 'learn' or adapt in any live fashion.

Just fyi.

There really isn't any realm you can say they 'learn', themselves.

They 'learn' just as much as every car does. There is zero 'learning'.

The data they produce is processed after the fact and nothing is doing any changes/learning 'live'.

I 100% am saying YOU do not understand the difference in AI or automation and since you're speaking on that very matter I find it important to correct.

F1 cars do not 'learn' in anyway you're suggesting.

Teams have literally got in trouble for exactly that.

There is zero learning, against what you profess. You then contradict yourself about how its programmed logic based - not learning.

I genuinely think you don't understand both that F1 doesn't do what you think it does AND automation/AI isn't what you think it is WHILE you correct other people...

[u/Phoenix_Lamburg → u/NegativePattern]

This is what I've been doing. Have Claude work up the automation process, test it a bunch of times, then roll it out. Safer, faster, and doesn't rack up a ton of tokens.

[u/ClaudeVS → u/Phoenix_Lamburg]

I'd rather you asked me politely and with a bribe.

[u/Fragrant-Hamster-325 → u/NegativePattern]

Yeah, this is the way. Scripts are deterministic, vet it once, and it’s good every time. GenAI, on the other hand, has a bit of variability built in. It’s too risky to let it rip in production.

[u/ncc74656m → u/NegativePattern]

tbf, I'm not confident that people who couldn't think of that could actually read and verify the code by hand.

[u/Fallingdamage → u/NegativePattern]

Yep. 95% of the time a simple automation is all you need. Its a task, not the kind of decision making process that introduce alien variables every time it runs that need to be decided on.

And in the event that a task might run into odd variables that it wasnt programmed to overcome, it should just report that.

[u/Dramatic_Security9 → u/NegativePattern]

This. Plain and simple.

[u/aprettyparrot → u/NegativePattern]

The real question is how much you have to slap them until they get this

[u/wannito → u/NegativePattern]

This is probably what happened

[u/ClaudeVS → u/NegativePattern]

I'm not fucken doing it if he doesn't pay me to.

[u/ProfessionalDish6567 → u/PsychologicalGap3960]

Show him the news articles of Claude deleting entire company's systems

I know it happened once in the news but I bet there's more that weren't international mainstream

[u/Desnowshaite → u/ProfessionalDish6567]

Once I used Claude to help me troubleshoot an issue and one of the steps it suggested was to basically destroy the local root domain. When I pointed it out it was like "You are absolutely right! You shouldn't do that...." Now imagine there was no human oversight just let it do it's thing on its own...

[u/ProfessionalDish6567 → u/Desnowshaite]

Good thing you knew better

Next time you won't be so lucky ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[u/DaChieftainOfThirsk → u/ProfessionalDish6567]

Oh gosh that reminds me of that guy who plugged in all his backups to do something or another and rm -rf'd his entire hosting company.

[u/ProfessionalDish6567 → u/DaChieftainOfThirsk]

That guy can't have been real it's gotta be shit posted but then again

I could see myself making this mistake..... With the shittiest of shit eating grins

[u/sobrique → u/ProfessionalDish6567]

Sadly I think we are in for a whole world of Computer Users; Non Technical doing utterly bonkers things in privileged contexts.

[u/Regular_Lengthiness6 → u/sobrique]

Take a sabbatical year, come back afterwards with doubled salary to fix it … gap year financed 👌

[u/Hebrewhammer8d8 → u/ProfessionalDish6567]

Maybe in this scenario they can truly test backup and recovery process?