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Quine can predict cross-propensity spillover. (imperfectly but significantly better than chance)
According to the excerpt, megasilverfist reports results of a challenge to predict how fine-tuning a model for one propensity changes others; an entry called Quine predicted spillover imperfectly but better than chance, with a rules ambiguity noted over blank cells.
Why it matters
The same thing, for different readers.
For researchers
A SPAR group's challenge tests whether people or pipelines can predict which behaviours change when a model is trained on another; the winner did better than chance, not well.
How the finding was reached
In our words, from the source. Weigh the finding by how it was made.
- What was done
- A 2 x 24 x 24 experiment of propensity fine-tuning spillover: training for each of 24 propensities, in either direction, and measuring the change in each of 24 evaluated propensities; participants submitted predictions.
- What it found
- Per the title, the winning entry, Quine, predicted spillover better than chance but imperfectly.
- What it does not show
- The post notes an ambiguity in the scoring rules about blank cells; only groups that submitted before the data went public are covered.
- Status
- A report
The record
- Questions
- Can AI systems act beyond what people intended or allowed? · Are AI companies putting stronger safeguards into practice?
- People
- megasilverfist (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 November 12, 2026, via
lesswrong(tier 1: the source’s own channel or an official record) - Cite this
- LessWrong, “Quine can predict cross-propensity spillover. (imperfectly but significantly better than chance)”, November 12, 2026. Entry in the Ctrl AI Base, https://ctrlai.com/base/lesswrong-2026-11-12-quine-predicts-propensity-spillover
Our notesLight lane: excerpt only; size of the effect is not in the excerpt. The group's automated pipeline uses a Claude model, mentioned only in passing.