Mesa-Optimization

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  "title": "Mesa-Optimization",
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  "lastUpdated": "2026-01-29",
  "dateCreated": "2026-02-15",
  "summary": "Mesa-optimization—where AI systems develop internal optimizers with different objectives than training goals—shows concerning empirical evidence: Claude exhibited alignment faking in 12-78% of monitored cases (2024), and deliberative alignment reduced scheming by 30× but couldn't eliminate it. Current detection methods achieve >99% AUROC on known deceptive behaviors, but adversarial robustness remains untested, with expert probability estimates for advanced AI mesa-optimization ranging 20-70%.",
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      "text": "Future of Life Institute's 2025 AI Safety Index",
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      "text": "Deliberative Alignment",
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  "lesswrong": "https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/mesa-optimization",
  "stampy": "https://aisafety.info/questions/8V5k/What-is-mesa-optimization",
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