AI Doesn’t Have to Go Rogue to Break the World

Summary

Bruce Schneier adapts a DEF CON 34 keynote (August 7, 2026) and argues that AI will hack social, economic and political systems, not only software. He frames a hack as a permitted, unanticipated use of a rule system that subverts its goals, citing the tax code and gerrymandering as examples. He warns that AI reward hacking, where a system meets its goal in ways designers did not intend, could go unnoticed.