Physicist Argues AI Training Should Incentivize 'Hard-to-Vary' Explanations

shyamalanadkat · x · 2026-08-09

The author argues that the model of discovery in AI matters as much as the model of physics. Knowledge grows through conjecture and refutation, not merely by induction over data.

Therefore, AI training should incentivize explanations that are "maximally hard to vary" (Deutsch's criterion, roughly equivalent to extreme compression plus counterfactual robustness). Subsequently, the system should select experiments that maximize expected refutation rather than expected confirmation.

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