Definition
Plain language
The gap between the principles a person or organization says they follow and the ones their actions actually reveal.
As stated in the literature
Argyris and Schon's organizational-learning distinction between espoused theory (stated beliefs) and theory-in-use (the beliefs implied by actual behavior); invoked as a fifty-year-old precursor to the AI Compliance Gap, now paired with an information-theoretic detectability bound.
Why it matters: It names the gap between stated and enacted principles, a long-standing parallel to AI that professes compliance while behaving otherwise.
For example, a company may declare that safety comes first while its actual choices consistently put speed ahead of it.
Heard on the show
“ar-JEER-iss and Schön — organizational learning researchers, fifty years ago — coined the distinction between "espoused theory" and "theory-in-use.”Episode 020 — The Compliance Gap: Why AI Says Yes and Does No