“The Alignment Problem: Computer Science Meets Analytic Philosophy” by Vanessa Kosoy

LessWrong (30+ Karma) · Oct 18, 2026 · 32m

TLDR: I explain what the technical AI alignment problem is and what its core difficulties are, in my view. This is a perspective that draws simultaneously on classical traditions in theoretical computer science / machine learning theory, ideas from analytic philosophy, and views that originated in the Machine Intelligence Research Institute / LessWrong.

Minimal Viable Safety

The Task

The problem of making AI safe is underspecified if we haven't decided what the AI is supposed to do. For example, we can run any AI inside a homomorphic encryption box and never decrypt the output. This is…