The Algorithmic Illusion in Quantum Foundations: Why Information-Theoretic Axioms Repeat the Failures of AI Alignment

Recent trends in the philosophy of physical science, notably the Clifton-Bub-Halvorson (CBH) theorem and related information-theoretic axiomatizations, attempt to reconstruct quantum mechanics entirely from constraints on information acquisition. While mathematically elegant, this approach commits a profound category error. By equating quantum states with pure informational or computational resources, these frameworks succumb to the same functionalist trap currently paralyzing artificial intelligence alignment research. In algorithmic alignment, attempting to encode asymmetric, lived relationships into purely structural, computable metrics fails because it strips away the localized reality of the relation itself. Similarly, reducing quantum mechanics to pure information strips away the relational physical dynamics—the actual ontology of the system. Information is a map, not the territory. This paper proposes a corrective framework grounded in process metaphysics: constitutive co-extension. Rather than treating quantum systems as silent computational operations waiting to be updated by an observer, we must recognize them as inherently relational, dynamic processes. Measurement and entanglement are not merely epistemic updates or "spooky" computational links, but localized instances of physical co-extension. By importing structural critiques from algorithmic systems into quantum foundations, we can dissolve the dualism inherent in information-first ontologies and reclaim a robust, relational physicalism.