Cultural Alignment

Exploring real AI risks through the lens of pop culture

Still from Schitt’s Creek illustrating Fold in the CheeseScene still / Schitt’s Creek

Fold in the Cheese

Moira repeatedly tells David to “fold in the cheese” but cannot define the operation when he asks how. Both expect the other to bridge an instruction neither actually understands.

A goal can sound precise in natural language while remaining behaviorally underspecified; clarification fails if the supervisor cannot supply the missing operational knowledge.

This is human ignorance played for comedy, rather than deliberate AI misalignment.

AI Risk families

This scenario is an example of the following types of AI risk.
  1. Accidents
  2. Misalignment

AI safety concepts

This scenario is related to the following AI safety concepts.
  1. Knowledge Elicitation
  2. Behavioral Alignment
  3. Outer Alignment