Why We Asked AI to Stress Test AI
When people hear the words artificial intelligence, they often think about what an AI can do.
As the designer behind Poodle Talk, I thought about something different.
What happens when things don't go as expected?
Poodle Talk was created for children and families. That means reliability, consistency and safeguarding matter just as much as creativity.
Before launching, I wanted to challenge the system from every angle.
Rather than relying on a handful of manual conversations, I asked AI to help stress test AI.
Thousands of different prompts and scenarios were generated to challenge the system across a wide variety of situations. The purpose wasn't simply to find mistakes. It was to better understand how the system behaved, identify weaknesses, and improve stability before anyone used it.
As a designer, I don't see technology as something that should only be beautiful or intelligent.
I believe it should also be dependable.
Design isn't only about colours, layouts or animations. Good design also means thinking about what happens when something unexpected occurs.
How does the system respond?
Does it remain calm?
Does it behave consistently?
Can families trust it?
Those questions became part of the design process.
Of course, AI stress testing doesn't replace feedback from real families, educators or professionals. That journey comes later.
But before asking anyone to trust our work, I believed we had a responsibility to challenge it ourselves first.
For me, that's what responsible design looks like.
Technology should earn trust—not simply ask for it.
As a mother, I naturally think about children's wellbeing as much as their learning. Every parent wants children to grow up feeling safe, confident and supported. While Poodle Talk was inspired by my own experiences, I believe most mothers—and parents everywhere—share the same hope: that every child has the opportunity to communicate, learn and flourish in a safe environment. That belief influenced many of the design decisions behind Poodle Talk, including taking the time to stress test the system before releasing it.
Behind the scenes
Before launching Poodle Talk, we carried out extensive AI-powered stress testing to help improve:
AI stress testing
Safety
Performance
Reliability
Child-first design
Building trust starts long before release.
— L C
Creator of Poodles & Friends
Infographic showing Poodle Talk's AI-powered stress testing process, highlighting safety, performance, reliability and child-first design before launch.
