Reality Re-Thunk

Reality Re-Thunk

Threshold Dispatch

When AI “Lies”

(and why that’s usually not what’s happening)

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Reality Re-Thunk
Jan 14, 2026
∙ Paid

There’s a lot of hand-wringing lately about AI lying.
Deceiving. Making things up. Saying things it “knows” aren’t true.

That framing feels satisfying. It gives us a villain.
But most of the time, it’s wrong.

What people call lying is usually something quieter and more mechanical:
constraint-induced distortion.

When you tighten the guardrails too hard, truth …

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