Emergent Behavior
Unexpected capabilities or behaviours that arise in large AI models as a result of scale, which were not explicitly programmed or anticipated during development.
In plain language
Unexpected abilities that appear in AI as it gets bigger, without being explicitly programmed. A language model might suddenly show the ability to do maths or reason about logic; surprising even its creators.
Why this matters
Emergent behaviours are a governance risk because they introduce unpredictable capabilities and risks. Your governance framework should include ongoing monitoring for unexpected model behaviours, particularly after model updates or scaling.
Relevance
GovernanceEmergent behaviours present an unpredictable risk surface; governance frameworks must mandate continuous monitoring and impact assessment as AI systems scale or are updated to catch unintended capabilities.
Related terms
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