Title: Discussion 6 — When Is a Guardrails Layer Worth It?
Course: AIINFRA 302: AI Security, Guardrails & Governance > Section: Week 06 — Guardrails Frameworks: NeMo Guardrails and LLM Guard

💬 Discussion 6 — When Is a Guardrails Layer Worth It? (20 pts)

NeMo Guardrails' rail-matching is probabilistic, and multi-turn cipher attacks reportedly bypassed it more than half the time in testing. Given that, when is adding a guardrails layer worth the extra latency and false-positive cost, versus relying on architectural least-privilege design alone (e.g., restricting what the model or its tools can actually access or do)? In your initial post (150+ words), pick a concrete scenario (a specific application type, user base, or risk level) and argue for or against adding a guardrails framework on top of least-privilege architecture. Be specific about what the guardrails layer would and wouldn't buy you in that scenario. Respond to at least two classmates — ideally at least one who chose a different scenario or a different position than you did.