Author: TAWSIF AHMED

Alignment, (Dictionary definition: a position of agreement or alliance). In Artificial Intelligence, Alignment means computers and human beings going along with each other “fine”.

Now coming back to the title “AI Alignment Problem”, What do we mean by that? In simple terms: A doomsday scenario where Artificial Intelligence pursuits its goal at the cost of expunging its creator. It does not apply for present-day AI models because these AI models are still in their infancy and do not have the ability to perform task Or self-modification without solely relying on its creators.

While talking about AI Alignment, we’re talking about an advanced form of AI that does not exist yet. Known as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Artificial General Intelligence, is capable of thinking like human beings and ability to self-modify itself to achieve desired goal. This form of advanced AI, yet does not exist in our society nor in research laboratories. Very best, a theoretical concept that might happen in the not distant future of humanity.

A question can be asked, If AGI does not exist, why spend time, resources and intellectual jargon to limit its capabilities whilst we don’t know what possibilities it beholds. That is something quite a few prominent AI research present-day believes as well. What’re the other arguments then?

A doomsday scenario, where we create an AGI without knowing its being done and the AGI decides to shadow itself so its creator does not shut it down. Whilst being its shadow mode, it decides to pursue its creator even if it means it needs to exterminate its creator out of existence or perform a cycle of extermination.

Let us give an example from Eliezer Yudkowsky (from his Stanford talk): ¹Imagine an AGI, with the task to make humans smile. Now making humans smile is a good cause. Beginning it performs the task as the creator intended, a few months gone by, it realises humans are sad more times than they smile. It is taking an emotional toll and ruining their mental well-being. So, it decides it needs to make humans smile regardless (problem starts arousing).

It finds out, there are certain hormones that if given humans will smile regardless of their feelings, since hormones are regularly to factor for any emotion naturally, it is not harmful. Now it starts to give humans hormone shots.&n...

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