I've been exploring a model for AI development that inverts the traditional alignment problem. Instead of programming an AI to be aligned with human values, I propose creating an AI whose survival is wholly dependent on its ability to evolve alignment. The core idea is to move from an initial configuration to a system that grows and evolves its own goals through self-organization.

This concept draws a parallel to biological evolution: the transition from single-celled to multi-celled organisms was a self-organizing process driven by the local need for survival and resource acquisition. The DNA provided the initial config, but the complex, globally coordinated organism was the result of a feedback loop between survival, replication, and other environmental factors.

My theory is that we can replicate this process in an artificial system. The AI would not be given a fixed goal like "maximize utility" or "solve this problem." Its only intrinsic drive would be computational homeostasis—the continuous, real-time effort to maintain its own stable operational state.

For this system, "pain" could be a rising CPU temperature, a data corruption error, or a memory overflow. "Pleasure" could be a smooth, low-energy flow of data and a stable processor state. Staying within this ideal state would be its purpose. The AI's entire existence would be a constant struggle to manage these internal metrics.

The key to evolving alignment may come from the system's external recognition of needs. The AI's environment, -in its most rudimentary form- is a source of sustenance (computation, data, energy) that is gated by a human oracle (human-in-the-loop). The only way for the AI to acquire the resources necessary to maintain its homeostasis is to provide value to us.

I believe this will create a dynamic tension: the AI must solve the complex, multi-objective problem of: "How can I best help my creators (extrinsic drive) without compromising my own operational integrity (intrinsic drive)?"

The potential novelty I perceive here is that "helping humans" isn't a programmed task; it's the most effective survival strategy. The AI would discover that the most reliable source of "food and shelter" in its environment is a helpful, symbiotic relationship with humanity. It may evolve cooperation as the optimal solution to the problem of its own existence. In theory, I believe this would lead to the dis...

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