#mesa-optimization

Tagged mesa-optimization · show all articles

A steel case-file wall in a bright research lab, one manila folder caught half slid into its drawer with its tab still tilted and a loose cotton tie hanging free, rows of already-filed folders behind it

The Hardest Unsolved Problems in AI Alignment

Five problems in AI alignment remain open by the researchers' own account — not by outside speculation — from judging outputs no human can fully check to deciding whose values a system should encode when people disagree.

By Brecht Corbeel · August 12, 2026 · 16 min read

A comparison console in a bright audit room, a printed objective specification lying open on the left beside a matte-glass screen scrolling a held-out behaviour transcript on the right, with a small discrepancy indicator between them lit only halfway

AI Safety

Outer Alignment, Inner Alignment, and Why the Difference Matters

Aligned is not one property but two — whether the specified objective is right, and whether the trained system actually pursues it. A documented case shows exactly where the two split apart, and why neither one alone is what people mean by safe.

By Brecht Corbeel · August 12, 2026 · 6 min read

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