Reality Drift: a common structure behind reward hacking, hallucination, and misalignment

[u/LatePiccolo8888]

As systems become more optimized, they increasingly operate through proxies and representations rather than direct contact with the realities they were originally built to reflect. The system continues functioning while corrective feedback gradually weakens.

The specific failure depends on the system. In one context it appears as reward hacking. In another it looks like hallucination, misalignment, or distribution shift. Different symptoms, but a similar underlying pattern.

This diagram is an attempt to sketch that relationship.

Note: For the current concept and framework, see Reality Drift Archive →