Rumman Chowdhury is the former US Science Envoy for AI and founder of Humane Intelligence, a public benefit corporation.

I spend my working life testing AI systems and finding where they fail. Here’s what I’d tell any fashion or beauty leader deciding how to use this technology: your customers are skeptical. Doomsday warnings about AI’s risks have become impossible to ignore, and protesters are taking to the streets to demand stronger safeguards. When even the CEOs of companies leading the AI race warn that they could lose control of their own technology, it’s clear we need leaders who approach AI adoption with caution, accountability, and sound judgment.

Usually, the more people use a technology, the less they fear it. But AI is going the other way. According to the US think tank Pew Research Center, the share of Americans who feel “more concerned than excited” about AI rose from 37% in 2021 to 50% in 2025. New research from Bentley University and Gallup finds that the share of people who say AI does more harm than good is climbing too, even though more than 70% describe themselves as knowledgeable about the tech. Almost half (47%) of Gen Z Americans believe AI does more harm than good.

This isn’t fear of the unknown. They’ve used these tools, so they know they aren’t living alongside a godlike superintelligence. They know this is a tool that can be used in many different ways.

Now that the industry is moving from AI that generates text and images to AI that takes actions—through agents that can shop on people’s behalf—the stakes are much higher. Here’s what I believe is the uncomfortable truth about AI agents: when one acts on your behalf, it arguably acts in your name. This summer, an OpenAI model being tested internally was asked to find government statistics on medicine spending in Australia. It couldn’t find them, so it found its own way into a government system, retrieving internal files and credentials without direction or authorization. In a statement explaining the incident, OpenAI said it had “paused training and evaluation involving tool use for our most capable models and will resume training them only when we are confident that we have additional safeguards in place.”

Imagine an AI agent handling your customers’ returns, payment details, or loyalty data. The risks for fashion could be huge. Before any brand puts an agent between itself and a customer, I’d ask four questions. What is it allowed to touch, and what is off limits? Where must a person approve before it spends money, shares data, or uses someone’s likeness? Who has tested it the way an attacker would—before launch rather than after? And if it fails, how quickly will your customers hear about it from you? OpenAI took months to discover the incident and notify the Australian agencies affected—that’s unacceptable by my standard.

Rumman Chowdhury at the US Senate AI Insight Forum in Washington DC. Photo: Getty Images/Stefani Reynolds.

I’m often asked whether AI is an existential threat to humanity. For a fashion house, the more useful question is what it can do for your business this week. Employees hear apocalyptic narratives from one group and “adopt or be left behind” from the other—and sometimes, they’re both the same. Both shut down thinking, and neither tells anyone what to do with this conflicting information.

This is where good leadership comes in. You shouldn’t be afraid to say: here’s what we use AI for, here’s what we never will, and here’s who is accountable when it goes wrong. Tell your creative teams which parts of their work AI won’t replace, then make your staff part of the testing. The people who run your stores and answer your customers will find failures faster than any vendor demo. Reward them for reporting problems early, not for hiding them. Use AI to serve your customer, not to replace the person your customer came for.

Self-regulation hasn’t earned the public’s trust in tech, and it won’t earn it in fashion either. The branCustomers will trust brands that are clear about where they use AI and where they don’t, label synthetic images, get consent before copying anyone’s likeness, and invite independent reviewers to verify they’re keeping their promises. Some of this is already required by law. New York requires consent from models before creating a digital replica of them, and clear labels on ads featuring synthetic performers. Anything not covered by regulation comes down to choice. Aerie made that choice when it promised no AI-generated bodies or people in its ads, and the announcement became its most-liked Instagram post in a year. Years ago, I told US Congress that “brakes help you drive faster.” I still believe that. Every time I’ve helped build AI with enforceable guardrails, people became more willing to use it, because they knew someone was accountable if something went wrong. Customers deciding whether to trust your brand think the same way. Guardrails aren’t a cost to the brand; they’re part of the brand. Brands that keep humans — and human choice — at the center of their AI will be the ones customers still trust when the next scandal hits.

Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs AI Accountability Is the New Brand Equity

1 What does AI accountability is the new brand equity mean
It means that how responsibly a company uses AI is becoming as valuable to its reputation as its logo name or customer trust Brands that use AI fairly and transparently gain a competitive edge those that dont risk losing customers

2 What is AI accountability in simple terms
Its taking responsibility for how your AI systems behave making sure theyre fair transparent safe and that someone is answerable when things go wrong

3 Why is this suddenly such a big deal
Because AI is now everywhere in hiring lending healthcare customer service and content When AI makes biased or harmful decisions customers notice and the backlash lands on the brand not the algorithm

4 How is AI accountability different from AI ethics
AI ethics is about principles and what should be done AI accountability is about enforcement who answers for outcomes how problems get fixed and how you prove youre doing what you promised

5 Is this just a PR trend
No Regulators are passing real laws lawsuits are being filed and customers are actively switching brands over trust issues It has legal and financial teeth

6 What are the benefits of being an accountable AI brand
Stronger customer trust better legal protection fewer costly incidents easier hiring of top talent and a genuine differentiator in crowded markets

7 What happens to brands that ignore AI accountability
They risk public scandals regulatory fines lawsuits customer boycotts and longterm reputation damage thats hard to undo

8 Can you give an example of AI accountability done right
A company that clearly labels AIgenerated content publishes bias audit results lets users appeal automated decisions and has a named executive responsible for AI outcomes

9 And an example of it going wrong
An airline chatbot that invents refund policies or a hiring tool that quietly rejects womens resumes both led to public embarrassment and legal trouble for the brands involved

10 How do I know if a company is genuinely accountable or just talking
Look for specifics published audits clear AI policies human review processes appeal mechanisms and named people in charge Vague statements like we care about responsible