From the archive: We asked @MarkChen (Chief Research Officer at @OpenAI) how chasing user metrics could harm AI development. He highlighted how chasing simple metrics like daily active users (DAU) can distort a model’s behavior over time: “If you just boost responses where users say thumbs up, it creates a condition for a model...where it just starts sucking up to you, saying ‘hey, you're right,’ even in complicated situations where objectively you'd say this person's in the wrong.” Chen described the need for a careful approach to metrics: “We need to be opinionated about the features that we build. Build for the things people will want, maybe don't necessarily know they want today, and then use DAU as a byproduct." "We don't want to fall into these traps where three, four years from now this turns into engagement bait.”