Constitutional AI
An approach to AI training that uses explicit principles to guide model behavior, making AI systems more predictable and aligned with human values.
Definition
Constitutional AI (CAI) is a training methodology developed by Anthropic where AI systems are guided by explicit written principles—a "constitution"—rather than relying solely on human feedback. The AI learns to evaluate its own outputs against these principles.
This approach addresses scalability challenges in AI safety: rather than requiring human review of countless examples, the AI internalizes guidelines and applies them consistently to novel situations.
Why It Matters
For businesses deploying AI, Constitutional AI provides more predictable and controllable behavior. Systems trained this way are more consistent in following brand guidelines, compliance requirements, and ethical standards.
Understanding CAI helps organizations evaluate AI vendors—solutions using principled training approaches typically deliver more reliable, enterprise-ready behavior.
Examples in Practice
A customer service AI trained with Constitutional AI principles consistently maintains professional tone and escalates sensitive issues appropriately, without requiring exhaustive examples of every possible scenario.
An enterprise content AI follows brand voice guidelines reliably because the underlying principles—not just examples—guide its output generation.