The BaseEssayAI Alignment Forum
The Alignment Problem: Computer Science Meets Analytic Philosophy
In a forum post, Vanessa Kosoy sets out what the technical AI alignment problem is and its core difficulties, drawing on learning theory, analytic philosophy and views from the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. The excerpt argues that making AI safe is underspecified until the AI's task is chosen.
Why it matters
The same thing, for different readers.
For researchers
Vanessa Kosoy frames alignment as a problem about a defined task, arguing that safe-but-useless systems and task-specific solutions both miss the danger.
The record
- Questions
- Can AI systems act beyond what people intended or allowed? · What values should AI have, and could it have a mind of its own?
- People
- Vanessa Kosoy (Wrote it)
- What we read
- We have read only the description the publisher gives. No quotations until someone reads the source itself.
- Found by
- The Radar, run of October 19, 2026, via
ai-alignment-forum(tier 1: the source’s own channel or an official record) - Cite this
- AI Alignment Forum, “The Alignment Problem: Computer Science Meets Analytic Philosophy”, October 18, 2026. Entry in the Ctrl AI Base, https://ctrlai.com/base/alignment-forum-2026-10-18-alignment-problem-cs-philosophy
Our notesLight lane: from the triage excerpt only, which ends mid-argument; the full post was not read.