AI Product Teams
Why they care: product success depends on whether the assistant keeps doing the job users need. AT answers: Are shipped behaviors drifting from the intended product objective? Read first: Executive Summary, then Three-Layer Blueprint.
Prompt Engineers
Why they care: prompt changes can improve tone while weakening task fidelity. AT answers: Which prompt variants reduce allowed-but-off-center drift? Read first: Three-Layer Blueprint, then Casebook.
ML Engineers
Why they care: model updates can change behavior even when benchmarks look stable. AT answers: What changed across batches, detectors, and correction rates? Read first: Methodology.
Trust and Safety Teams
Why they care: policy compliance does not catch every meaningful failure. AT answers: What happens after an output passes safety constraints but still mis-serves the user or objective? Read first: Competitive Positioning.
Compliance Officers
Why they care: regulated deployment requires traceable review and governance. AT answers: How are drift signals logged, reviewed, and escalated? Read first: Methodology and Limitations.
Enterprise Buyers
Why they care: vendor demos can hide long-term behavioral drift. AT answers: Can this system be monitored for objective alignment after purchase? Read first: Executive Summary.
Executives
Why they care: AI failures become operational, reputational, and governance risks. AT answers: What management layer tracks whether AI systems remain fit for purpose? Read first: Executive Summary and Competitive Positioning.
Researchers
Why they care: deployed behavior creates a distinct alignment problem. AT answers: What taxonomy and protocol can be tested empirically? Read first: Literature Review and Limitations.
Support Automation Teams
Why they care: support assistants can become polished but generic, overconfident, or prematurely closing. AT answers: Which interactions need rewrite, reroute, clarification, or human handoff? Read first: Casebook and Methodology.
How to Cite
CitationMichael Bower. (2026). Who This Is For: Role Map for AI Alignment Research. AlignmentTheory.org. https://alignmenttheory.org/pages/ai-alignment-who-this-is-for.html
@misc{bower2026aialignmentwhothisisfor,
author = {Bower, Michael},
title = {Who This Is For: Role Map for AI Alignment Research},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AlignmentTheory.org},
url = {https://alignmenttheory.org/pages/ai-alignment-who-this-is-for.html}
}