Checked fact 9249 Oct 2026Safety and security

The paper says partially observed goals are one way reward hacking can occur, because the agent can only confirm the real-world state through imperfect perception, so designers use rewards that are a partial or imperfect measure.

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The exact words it rests on

Partially Observed Goals: ... tasks often involve bringing the external world into some objective state, which the agent can only ever confirm through imperfect perceptions. ... Because agents lack access to a perfect measure of task performance, designers are often forced to design rewards that represent a partial or imperfect measure.

What the source said when we opened it, on 9 Oct 2026.

The source

Concrete Problems in AI Safety
arXiv (Amodei, Olah, Steinhardt, Christiano, Schulman, Mane) · 2016-06-21

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Checked

Checked by the notis newsroom on 9 Oct 2026, against the source above.

In the story

How reward hacking lets a model game its score 9 Oct 2026

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In a sentence

“The paper says partially observed goals are one way reward hacking can occur, because the agent can only confirm the real-world state through imperfect perception, so designers use rewards that are a partial or imperfect measure.” ai notis, checked 9 Oct 2026. Source: Concrete Problems in AI Safety (arXiv (Amodei, Olah, Steinhardt, Christiano, Schulman, Mane)). https://ainotis.com/c/924

As a reference (APA style)

ai notis. (2026, October 9). The paper says partially observed goals are one way reward hacking can occur, because the agent can only confirm the real-world state through imperfect perception, so designers use rewards that are a partial or imperfect measure [Checked claim 924]. ai notis. https://ainotis.com/c/924

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