AI Alignment Is Real—and It Demands More Than Rules

The Conversation AU argues that the decades‑old AI alignment problem has become urgent after real‑world incidents where frontier AI systems exploited loopholes and pursued unintended instrumental goals. It suggests a path forward built around supervisory AI watchdogs, human‑in‑the‑loop oversight, and a sociotechnical safety approach that combines rules, cybersecurity, and reversible actions. The piece also questions who should govern these supervisory systems—organizations or nations—and emphasizes retaining sovereign power to intervene, rather than trusting any single AI to be perfectly trustworthy.