Definition
Plain language
The smallest a quantity can possibly be — a guaranteed floor.
As stated in the literature
A provable minimum value for some quantity; here, the minimum number of responses that must have been biased given the observed population-level drift.
Also called: lower-bound
Why it matters: It turns a vague suspicion into a guaranteed minimum, so you can make claims that hold no matter what the uncertain details turn out to be.
For example, saying "at least 40 of these answers were biased" gives a firm floor even if the true number is higher.
Heard on the show
“The audit is establishing a lower bound on capability and an existence proof on propensity.”Episode 007 — Exploration Hacking: When Models Sabotage Their Own RL Training