Very clear presentation! As someone outside the field who likes to follow along, I very much appreciate these clear conceptual frameworks and explanations.
I did however get slightly lost in section 1.2. At first reading I was expecting this part:
which we will contrast with the outer alignment problem of eliminating the gap between the base objective and the intended goal of the programmers.
to say, ”… gap between the behavioral objective and the intended goal of the programmers.” (In which case the inner alignment problem would be a subcomponent of the outer alignment problem.)
On second thought, I can see why you’d want to have a term just for the problem of making sure the base objective is aligned. But to help myself (and others who think similarly) keep this all straight, do you have a pithy term for “the intended goal of the programmers” that’s analogous to base objective, mesa objective, and behavioral objective?
Would meta objective be appropriate?
(Apologies if my question rests on a misunderstanding or if you’ve defined the term I’m looking for somewhere and I’ve missed it.)
Got it, that’s helpful. Thank you!