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Why reward design is hard in reinforcement learning

Question: In one to three sentences, explain why it is hard to write a good reward function for a task such as controlling an autonomous warehouse robot.

Sample answer: A reward function is hard to design because it has to capture several goals at once, such as avoiding collisions, reaching the target quickly, and handling packages carefully. These goals can conflict, so a manually created score can be hard to balance well.

Key points:

  • The reward is usually specified by the designer
  • It must combine several competing goals, such as safety, speed, and careful handling
  • One score may not reflect all of the trade-offs well

Rubric: Full credit: mentions that the reward must balance multiple competing goals and is manually designed. Partial credit: mentions only that it is hand-crafted or only one trade-off issue.

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Updated 2026-08-12

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