The One-Step Trap (In AI Research)

The One-Step Trap (in AI Research) Rich Sutton Written up for X on July 18, 2024 The one-step trap is the common mistake of thinking that all or most of an AI agent�s learned predictions can be one-step ones, with all longer-term predictions generated as needed by iterating the one-step predictions. The most important place where the trap arises is when the one-step predictions constitute a model of the world and of how it evolves over time. It is appealing to think that one can learn just a one