Is misalignment framing the problem? Alignment threats may not come from discrete agents
danfaggella · x · 2026-09-07
jachiam0 argues that AI alignment's slow progress may stem from a framing issue: the field models AI as semi-discrete entities that act as coherent agents, make trades, and choose strategies — yet many of the most important threats don't have that shape.
danfaggella pushes back with a deeper question: aligned to what? When filtering for memes or antimemes, what ultimate orientation are we expecting? The thread highlights both a modeling problem (agents may be the wrong unit of analysis) and a foundational one (what ultimate goal counts as alignment).
Related event: Alignment Researcher Argues Memes, Not Agents, Should Be the Focus(2 posts)→
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