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Why is it difficult to design a good reward function for a reinforcement learning task?

Question: In one to three sentences, explain why designing a good reward function for a task like helicopter flight is not easy.

Sample answer: Designing a good reward function is difficult because it must balance multiple competing factors, such as how bumpy the landing was, whether the helicopter landed exactly at the desired spot, and how rough the ride was for passengers. Since the reward function is typically chosen by hand, capturing all of these trade-offs in a single score is challenging.

Key points:

  • Reward function is typically chosen by hand
  • Must trade off bumpiness, landing spot accuracy, and ride roughness
  • Balancing multiple factors in one score makes design difficult

Rubric: Full credit: mentions that the reward function must trade off multiple factors (e.g., bumpiness, landing accuracy, ride roughness) and is chosen by hand. Partial credit: mentions only that it's hand-designed or only one trade-off factor.

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Updated 2026-07-10

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