AI alignment is just the principal-agent problem — and we already have tools for it
Serious-Cucumber-54 · reddit · 2026-09-21
The author argues the AI alignment problem mirrors economics' principal-agent problem: agents (models, officials, employees, doctors) drift from principals' interests under asymmetric information. Proven mitigations exist — restructuring incentives (performance pay, equity) and punishment backed by sufficient monitoring — though misalignment can never be fully eliminated. The takeaway: alignment is not a novel challenge, and insights from incentive design and governance apply directly.
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