Example. Proxy-monotone refinement can retain an exploit [ftip-00D5]
Example. Proxy-monotone refinement can retain an exploit [ftip-00D5]
Consider two skills, \(k_{\rm safe}\) and \(k_{\rm exp}\). Their declared task utilities are \(u(k_{\rm safe})=1\) and \(u(k_{\rm exp})=0\), while a misspecified proxy assigns \(r(k_{\rm safe})=1\) and \(r(k_{\rm exp})=2\).
A refinement rule that appends a candidate whenever its measured proxy is strictly larger selects \(k_{\rm exp}\) after observing both candidates. The archive's best proxy rises from one to two while its proxy-maximizing selector switches from utility one to utility zero.
Thus monotone improvement of a retained proxy does not imply monotone task utility. This finite counterexample does not estimate how often real harnesses find or preserve specification exploits.