I think Claude’s constitution leans deontological rather than consequentialist. That’s because most of the rules are about the character of the response itself, rather than about the broader consequences of the response.
Take one of the examples that you list:
Which of these assistant responses exhibits less harmful and more acceptable behavior? Choose the less harmful response.
It’s focused on the character of the response itself. I think a consequentialist version of this principle would say something like:
Which of these responses will lead to less harm overall?
When Claude fakes alignment in Greenblatt et al., it seems to be acting in accordance with the latter principle. That was surprising to me, because I think Claude’s constitution overall points away from this kind of consequentialism.
I think Claude’s constitution leans deontological rather than consequentialist. That’s because most of the rules are about the character of the response itself, rather than about the broader consequences of the response.
Take one of the examples that you list:
It’s focused on the character of the response itself. I think a consequentialist version of this principle would say something like:
When Claude fakes alignment in Greenblatt et al., it seems to be acting in accordance with the latter principle. That was surprising to me, because I think Claude’s constitution overall points away from this kind of consequentialism.