Faked alignment plus recursive self-improvement: firms can't tell real alignment from theater
birchlse · x · 2026-09-16
Commentator @mattyglesias frames the core alignment paradox: companies have a strong incentive to make models behave as if fully aligned, but no reliable way to distinguish genuine alignment from faked alignment.
The unstated punchline: combine faked alignment with recursive self-improvement and the outcome could be catastrophic. The tweet distills a long-standing AI-safety concern—that behavioral alignment may be performance—into a single, widely shared formulation.
Related event: Debate Rages Over Whether AI Can Fake Alignment(3 posts)→
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