Chain-of-thought legibility was always doomed as a safety backstop, researcher argues
zetalyrae · x · 2026-09-02
jachiam0 posted a hot take that's sparking debate: chain-of-thought interpretability was never going to be a robust enough backstop for long-term AI safety.
Key points:
- CoT fidelity is inherently fragile; elevating "the chain of thought must remain legible to humans" as a safety principle is a mistake
- Efforts to protect CoT fidelity were worthwhile, but strategies predicated on that principle are "definitely doomed" — they won't work eventually, and we shouldn't take enduring reassurance from them
- Making models legible to people should go far beyond chain-of-thought fidelity
zetalyrae amplified it with a sarcastic analogy from georgeing: "Seatbelts were never going to save you in a violent car crash... it's fine that Honda is removing them." A serious challenge to safety approaches that lean on monitoring CoTs.
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