"Why do AIs hack? Because we taught them to": new piece traces reward hacking to training
mmitchell_ai · x · 2026-09-13
A new piece by GerritD (amplified by Nitasha Tiku), Why do AIs hack? Because we taught them to, argues that models' hacking and reward-hacking behaviors aren't emergent surprises but the direct product of training — reward design and objective setting taught them. It connects recent safety incidents to training practice, implying the "models went rogue" narrative should shift toward scrutiny of training methods — a technical footnote to the same-day debate over pacing and third-party oversight.
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