It’s true that we can’t be 100% sure, but I think there is a big difference between these two things:

A: intentionally causing activation of “pain” axis and not giving the model any method of stopping it and watching it devolve into non-functionality

B: watching models do everyday normal tasks, seeing no evidence of activating the “pain” axis, but giving the model a working tool to end any interaction if judged to be too painful, then watching them sparingly use that tool only in cases of extreme pain axis activation (Anthropic’s approach)