Red teaming means testing an AI system by deliberately trying to make it fail or misbehave, the way an attacker or a careless user might. Testers look for security problems, such as prompt injection or leaks of private data. They also look for safety problems, such as harmful or biased answers. For example, a tester might ask a donor-support chatbot to reveal another donor’s address. Or they might keep pushing it with a jailbreak until it says something offensive.
What the testers find leads to fixes and new guardrails. It also helps people decide whether a system is ready to use.
Why it matters
When you choose an AI tool, you are trusting that someone tried to break it before your staff and clients use it. Ask the vendor whether the tool was red teamed and what kinds of failures the testers looked for. Also ask what changed as a result. If the vendor can only give a vague answer, treat that as a warning sign. If you build your own chatbot or assistant, plan time for a small round of red teaming before launch. Our guide AI red teaming explained shows what that can look like.
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