What is AI Alignment
A field of study and practice that attempts to make AI behavior safe, beneficial, and consistent with human intentions.
Definition
AI alignment is necessary because the model may formally carry out an instruction, but do so in a harmful, unethical, or unexpected way. The goal is for the system to understand the constraints, follow the user's intent, not bend the rules, and remain manageable as capabilities grow.
Example
If a user asks to “increase sales at any cost,” the agreed-upon system should not suggest deception, spam, or violation of the law.
Why it matters
The term is important for assessing the maturity of AI products: a secure service should not only be powerful, but also predictable, controllable and useful to humans.
How it works
Consensus is achieved through learning from people's preferences, safety rules, risk scenario testing, monitoring, tool limitations, and human supervision.
Where it is used
- safe chatbots
- corporate AI assistants
- autonomous agent management
Limitations
There is no complete solution yet: human values are complex, contexts change, and overly rigid rules can impair the usefulness of the system.