Can AI developers avoid Frankenstein’s fateful mistake?

As a new film adaptation reaches millions, its lesson is timely: Don’t abandon the dangerous things you create

- DOV GREENBAUM AND MARK GERSTEIN

KEN WORONER Netflix OSCAR ISAAC as Victor Frankenstein in Guillermo del Toro's new film, "Frankenstein."

AUDIENCES already know the story of Frankenstein. The gothic novel— adapted dozens of times, most recently in director Guillermo del Toro’s haunting revival now available on Netflix — is embedded in our cultural DNA as the cautionary tale of science gone wrong.

But popular culture misreads author Mary Shelley's warning. The lesson isn't “don’t create dangerous things.” It’s “don’t walk away from what you create.”

This distinction matters: The fork in the road comes after creation, not before. All powerful technologies can become destructive — the choice between outcomes lies in stewardship or abdication. Victor Frankenstein's sin wasn’t simply bringing life to a grotesque creature. It was refusing to raise it, insisting that the consequences were someone else's problem. Every generation produces its Victors. Ours work in artificial intelligence.

Recently, a California court fined an attorney $10,000 after 21 of 23 case citations in their brief proved to be AI fabrications — nonexistent precedents. Hundreds of similar instances have been documented nationwide, growing from a few cases a month to a few cases day. This summer, a Georgia appeals court vacated a divorce ruling after discovering that ll of 15 citations were AI fabrications. How many more went undetected, ready to corrupt the legal record?

The problem runs deeper than irresponsible deployment. For decades, computer systems were provably correct — a pocket calculator can consistently offer users the mathematically correct answers every time. Engineers could demonstrate how an algorithm would behave. Failures meant implementation errors, not uncertainty about the system itself.