# AI Alignment Must Generalize Across Incompatible Human Worlds by Ezra Klein > “The problem of alignment is that there is no way of training a model that generalizes across all the situations an AI model might face. We are training models to be a friend to the elderly and a battlefield partner to the supreme allied commander of Europe. We are training models that will be used by the world's best mathematicians and by people falling into psychosis. We are training models that will be used by accountants in Albuquerque and that Houthi rebels in Yemen will attempt to use. There is no way to guide them through every decision they will face, no way to know every time what they will do.” > **— Ezra Klein**, *The Ezra Klein Show, September 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Timecoded episode recording:** [*The Ezra Klein Show* at 6:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjZ90V_JREk&t=363s) — recording and precise locator for the source object preserved in this Reminder. - **Reconciled source dossier:** [[research/Why Are We Sprinting Off the AI Cliff - Ezra Klein on Recursive Self-Improvement|Why Are We Sprinting Off the AI Cliff?]] — preserves broadcast order, speaker attribution, editorial conventions and the surrounding argument. - **Editorial treatment:** The poster text follows the reconciled source object without substantive alteration; spoken punctuation and transcript lineation are normalized for reading. - **Context:** Klein presents alignment as a generalization problem across users, institutions and environments whose goals cannot be enumerated in advance. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Cannot Un-Strike the Match|We Cannot Un-Strike the Match]] - **Article:** [[articles/Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse|Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] - **Article:** [[articles/AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor|AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Alignment Problem|Alignment Problem]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Alignment Problem|Alignment Problem]] - [[wiki/Alignment Generalization|Alignment Generalization]] - [[wiki/Human Control of AI|Human Control of AI]] - [[wiki/AI Agent|AI Agent]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “The problem of alignment is that there is no way of training a model that generalizes across all the situations an AI model might face. We are training models to be a friend to the elderly and a battlefield partner to the supreme allied commander of Europe. We are training models that will be used by the world's best mathematicians and by people falling into psychosis. We are training models that will be used by accountants in Albuquerque and that Houthi rebels in Yemen will attempt to use. There is no way to guide them through every decision they will face, no way to know every time what they will do.” — Ezra Klein, The Ezra Klein Show, September 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-ezra-klein-alignment-generalize-incompatible-human-worlds ```