tszzl: Mechanistic interpretability is the bare minimum to make AI alignment an engineering discipline
tszzl · x · 2026-10-06
AI researcher tszzl argues that solving mechanistic interpretability is the bare minimum required to turn AI alignment into a genuine engineering discipline. Without it, he quips, alignment work amounts to nothing more than 'superintelligent animal husbandry'—taming models from the outside without understanding what happens inside. The post captures a widely shared view in the alignment community: interpretability isn't optional research, it's the precondition for verifiable, engineering-grade safety work.
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