The shortcut rule is a principle of system design stating that if you optimize for a specific metric, you will take shortcuts along every possible dimension of your problem that is not captured by your metric; in AI, this means that focusing on task-specific skill yields task-specific skill but not generalizable cognitive abilities, because skill is orthogonal to generalization.
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Speaker
François CholletEvidence Quote
“if you start optimizing for a specific metric, you will take shortcuts along every possible dimension of your problem that is not captured by your metric.”
Source
Francois Chollet | Why abstraction is the key to intelligence, and what we’re still missing— Harvard CMSACreated: 8/12/2026, 6:07:58 PM
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