
#58 - Juan Pablo Carbajal: Tadpoles, tolerance and why AI alignment is really a human problem
From The Grand Challengers Podcast by Peter Marcus Bach
March 2, 2026 · 1h 41m · Episode 58
About this episode
The episode explores the concept of AI alignment and its roots in human behavior through a discussion with physicist Juan Pablo Carbajal.
We train AI systems to optimize for metrics — but what if the real alignment problem isn't in the machine? What if it starts with us? Juan Pablo Carbajal is a physicist, interdisciplinary researcher, and educator at the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (OST). Originally from Argentina, his career spans physics, robotics, biomechanics, agronomy, machine learning, and water research — driven not by any single discipline but by a deep need to understand the systems underlying e...
People in this episode
Host: Peter Marcus Bach
Guest: Juan Pablo Carbajal
Topics covered
- AI alignment
- human factors
- interdisciplinary research
- physics
- machine learning
- biomechanics
Keywords
- AI systems
- alignment problem
- interdisciplinary
- robotics
- biomechanics
- machine learning
- water research
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
Places: Argentina
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