Open to Debate: should we trust AI agents with our information?

Would you hand a stranger your bank passwords, your private messages, and control of your personal information? That’s the ask when the stranger is an AI agent, like Meta Muse, Claude Duet, or OpenAI Dots. In this special episode from Open to Debate, recorded live at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco on October 22, 2026, Jeff Berman, co-host of Masters of Scale, moderates a debate on the question: should we stop trusting AI agents with our information? Arguing yes, Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal, says the convenience comes at the cost of our privacy, since agents need sweeping access that could undermine encryption, expose personal data, and create new vulnerabilities for hackers. Arguing no, Neil Chilson, head of AI policy at the Abundance Institute, counters that existing laws, competition, and targeted safeguards can manage the risks without giving up the productivity gains. So how much control is too much?Follow Open to Debate on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@OpentoDebate) This episode originally ran Friday, November 6th on the podcast “Open to Debate.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.