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Glite Dictionary
↔️ Wrong position 🤖 AI-human mismatch
misalignment

misalignment

8.1
When a computer system tries to do different things from what people want and behaves in unsafe ways
  • noun
  • /ˌmɪsəˈlaɪnmənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : desalineación

Examples

  • So there was a fundamental misalignment between the two groups, with each unclear.

    Blog text (31)

  • So the CEO doesn't own the entire company, and that's what's going to create a misalignment of his objectives with the objectives of the shareholders.

  • These facts led us to the purpose of our study, which was to look into one possible factor behind teachers' high resignation rate and job dissatisfaction: the misalignment of an employee's career anchors with the work environment.

    Academic text (2001)

  • She argued that poor policy signals and the misalignment of policy agendas across sectors of the system were producing low rates of college enrollment and completion.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Continuing this line of research, Venezia, Bracco, and Nodine (2010) recently surveyed California community college students and came to similar conclusions about how students' aspirations are not fully addressed because system misalignment leaves students feeling uncertain about how they can gain access to college and perform successfully once admitted.

    Academic text (2012)

  • The literature reports misalignments between perceived abilities and observed performance using other instruments (Bradlow, Hoch, & Hutchinson, 2002; Hargittai & Shafer, 2006; Litt, 2013).

    Academic text (2018)

  • The misalignment of the AI system's goals with human values can lead to unexpected consequences.

  • Researchers are studying misalignment in machine learning to ensure technologies align with user intentions.

  • A major concern in AI development is the misalignment of reward signals, which can result in unsafe behaviors.

Synonyms

malalignment
vsmisalignment
  • Specialized
1 8.2

Bones or body parts are in the wrong position

applies to mismatch in machine objectives and human values rather than physical alignment
mismatching
vsmisalignment
4.0

A situation when two things do not agree, for example study results

refers to a specific mismatch between system goals and human values causing unsafe results

Antonyms

alignment
  • Specialized
5 5.7

Work to make AI act in ways that fit human values and keep people safe

Compounds

spoke misalignment
  • Specialized
7.9

When the metal rods that hold a bicycle wheel are out of position and the wheel wobbles

How Aligned

alignment
  • Specialized
5 5.7
misalignment
  • Specialized
8.1

Surface Forms

misalignment singular
misalignments plural

Morphology

misalignment = alignment (semi-transparent) = mis + align + ment

Morphologically 'mis-' + 'alignment' is regular, but the sense is a specialized, technical extension in AI (a normative/goal-oriented meaning) that may not be obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Misalignment uses the same parts: mis- 'wrong' and align 'to line up'. A helpful image is two arrows that should point the same way but do not — in AI this means the system's goals are not 'lined up' with people's values or wishes, which explains the risks of unwanted behaviour.