Interpretability methods should hill-climb on downstream goals, not intrinsic metrics
EEnouen · x · 2026-08-26
The author argues that interpretability research should optimize for specific downstream goals (e.g., steering, probing) rather than intrinsic measures like faithfulness. If an interpretation method does not outperform simpler baselines in inferring behavior, intervening, or steering, it likely constitutes "false progress".
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