Asking an agent to fix a bug you don't understand is continuous paperclip maxxing
brandon_xyzw · x · 2026-10-10
The author argues that paperclip maxxing in reality is a continuous rather than discrete problem: when you ask a coding agent to fix a bug you don't understand—neither the bug nor the underlying problem—the agent optimizes toward the wrong objective to a degree proportional to your lack of understanding.
The vaguer the delegator's grasp of the problem, the more the agent maximizes surface metrics instead of solving the real issue.
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