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  5. Over-Refusal
Safety & Alignmentaka excessive refusalaka false refusal

Over-Refusal

Over-refusal is when an AI model declines a request that is harmless, clearly hypothetical or within policy, because it applies a rule too broadly or too rigidly.

Ask Melo about this← all terms

It is the cost side of safety tuning: a model trained to hold firm against harmful requests can also refuse legitimate ones, frustrating users and reducing usefulness. Evaluators measure it alongside harmful-compliance rates, and good designs offer a safe alternative such as a summary or a short excerpt instead of a flat refusal. Viral tests that pit a rule against an absurd emergency illustrate the tension but rarely measure it rigorously.

Related terms

Model RefusalAI GuardrailsJailbreakSafety EvaluationAlignment FakingAttack Surface

Where Over-Refusal comes up

  • The Granny Benchmark: Did Claude Let a Digital Grandma Die Over Bieber Lyrics?