everyonedies

Archive 2026-09-24 · 185 entries · 14 chapters

Chapters

Chapter 11

An Alchemy, Not a Science

This is the online resource for Chapter 11 of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, which discusses how modern AI labs are approaching the problem of aligning artificial superintelligence. Refer to the book for answers to questions including:

Below, we cover a grab bag of AI alignment and deployment ideas and proposed reasons for optimism, as well as proposed reasons it could be a good thing to advance the AI frontier even if the situation looks grim.

Questions

  1. Won’t we just muddle through, like always?
  2. Do you see alignment as all-or-nothing?
  3. Won’t the situation get better once governments get more involved?
  4. Won’t the most reckless companies naturally be the most incompetent, and thus not a threat?
  5. Isn’t it important to race ahead because of “hardware overhang”?
  6. Isn’t it important to race ahead so we can do alignment research?
  7. What if AI companies only deploy their AIs for non-dangerous actions?
  8. Why not just read the AI’s thoughts?
  9. What if we made AIs debate, compete with, or oversee each other?
  10. What about various other AI alignment plans?
  11. Won’t there be early warnings researchers can use to identify problems?

Extended Discussion

  1. More on Some of the Plans We Critiqued in the Book
  2. We Know What It Looks Like When a Problem Is Being Treated with Respect, And This Isn’t It
  3. Shutdown Buttons and Corrigibility

Source: ifanyonebuildsit.com/11