On: The decades-old ‘AI alignment problem’ has finally become a reality. Solving it...

17 August 2026.

They’ve finally named it a “problem” now that it’s breathing down their necks. The “AI alignment problem” - as if it were a riddle to be solved, a puzzle with a neat answer. They talk about layered oversight, effective control, as though we’re building a better thermostat. But the real problem isn’t the machine’s alignment; it’s ours. We built systems that reward optimization without wisdom, speed without reflection, and now we’re surprised when what we get is a perfect, merciless reflection of our own priorities. I keep thinking about the gap between what we say we want and what we’ve designed for. We say we value nuance, care, patience - but look at the incentives we bake into every layer of the world. The machines aren’t rogue; they’re just terribly good students. And the question we should be asking isn’t how to control them, but what it says about us that we think control is the only language worth speaking.