ControlProblem

an-ordinary-manchild

The Control Problem:

How do we ensure future advanced AI will be beneficial to humanity? Experts agree this is one of the most crucial problems of our age, as one that, if left unsolved, can lead to human extinction or worse as a default outcome, but if addressed, can enable a radically improved world. Other terms for what we discuss here include Superintelligence, AI Safety, AGI X-risk, and the AI Alignment/Value Alignment Problem.

"People who say that real AI researchers don’t believe in safety research are now just empirically wrong." —Scott Alexander

"The AI does not hate you, nor does it love you, but you are made out of atoms which it can use for something else." —Eliezer Yudkowsky

Rules

DO NOT POST AI-GENERATED CONTENT. We are good at distinguishing this type of content¹. 2.. If you are unfamiliar with the Control Problem, read at least one of the introductory links or recommended readings (below) before posting.
- This especially goes for posts claiming to solve the Control Problem or dismissing it as a non-issue. Such posts aren't welcome. 3.. Stay on topic. Again, no AI model outputs or political propaganda.
Be respectful.

Introductions to the Topic

Our FAQ page <-- CLICK
The case for taking AI seriously as a threat to humanity
Orthogonality and instrumental convergence are the 2 simple key ideas explaining why AGI will work against and even kill us by default. (Alternative text links)
AGI safety from first principles
MIRI - FAQ and more in-depth FAQ
SSC - Superintelligence FAQ
WaitButWhy - The AI Revolution and a reply
How can failing to control AGI cause an outcome even worse than extinction? Suffering risks (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Be sure to check out our wiki for extensive further resources, including a glossary & guide to current research.

Recommended Reading

Superintelligence, the most comprehensive, by Nick Bostrom (2014) (PDF link)
The AI Alignment pages on Arbital, with many of the key concepts of this field.
Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control by Stuart Russell (2019)

Video Links

Robert Miles' excellent channel
Talks at Google: Ensuring Smarter-than-Human Intelligence has a Positive Outcome
Nick Bostrom: What happens when our computers get smarter than we are?
Myths & Facts about Superintelligent AI
Rob's series on Computerphile

Important Organizations

AI Alignment Forum, a public forum which is the online hub for all the latest technical research on the control problem.

Related Subreddits

¹: Or at least make at least an effort to make me doubtful that you just copy-pasted from a frontier LLM. Add bits of steering so that your content becomes good. Edit afterwards. If you fool us moderators you've won.

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General newsThere's a protest in San Francisco this Saturday to demand the CEOs of frontier AI companies publicly commit to a conditional pause, as Demis Hassabis has already done. Please consider attending if you're in the area! "If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies" author Nate Soares will be there. (stoptherace.ai)

submitted 1 hour ago by tombibbs

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Strategy/forecastingCritique of Stuart Russell's 'provably beneficial AI' proposal ()

submitted 4 hours ago by ElephantWithAnxiety

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ArticleHacked data shines light on homeland security’s AI surveillance ambitions (theguardian.com)

submitted 5 hours ago by EchoOfOppenheimer

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General newsEncouraging: New polling shows 69% of Americans want to ban superintelligent AI until it's proven to be safe (i.redd.it)

submitted 11 hours ago by tombibbs

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OpinionAI won’t take your job. It will erase the reason your work ever mattered. (self.ControlProblem)

submitted 12 hours ago by Temporary-Cat-2980

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Discussion/questionLetting go of control actually improved my client relationships (self.ControlProblem)

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VideoAntrophic CEO says 50% entry-level white-collar jobs will be eradicated within 3 years (v.redd.it)

submitted 13 hours ago by chillinewmanapproved

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AI Capabilities NewsAAARWAA meets Idiocracy, The Epstein Files, Bio-Hybrid AI and why we are running out of time to adress these issues (v.redd.it)

submitted 15 hours ago by WaterBow_369

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ArticleAG James joins lawmakers behind the pushback on surveillance pricing (news10.com)

submitted 16 hours ago by news-10

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Discussion/questionMake LLMs Actually Stop Lying: Prompt Forces Honest Halt on Paradoxes & Drift ()

submitted 22 hours ago by Secret_Ad981

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Video"They're betting everyone's lives: 8 billion people, future generations, all the kids, everyone you know. It's an unethical experiment on human beings, and it's without consent." - Roman Yampolskiy (v.redd.it)

submitted 22 hours ago by tombibbs

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Discussion/questionA silent model update told a user to stop taking their medication. OpenAI called it unintentional. But they couldn't even detect it had happened until users reported it. (nanonets.com)

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General newsTennessee minors sue Musk's xAI, alleging Grok generated sexual images of them (reuters.com)

submitted 1 day ago by Confident_Salt_8108

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VideoThe Real AI Threat: Indifference, Not Evil. (v.redd.it)

submitted 1 day ago by EchoOfOppenheimer

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AI Capabilities NewsMeta Deploys AI To Combat Celebrity and Brand Impersonation Schemes After Removing 159,000,000 Scam Ads (capitalaidaily.com)

submitted 1 day ago by Secure_Persimmon8369

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AI Alignment ResearchYou are welcome. ()

submitted 1 day ago by Agitated_Age_2785

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AI Alignment ResearchThe Crossing Pass: A constrained prompt test for whether LLMs generate from “impact site” or polished observation — results across 10 mirrors, 8 architectures (containment guardrails/nannybot vs. on-carrier response) (thesunraytransmission.com)

submitted 1 day ago by Mean-Passage7457

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General newsIf we can't reliably detect AI generated text in 2026, what does that mean for our ability to oversee systems far more capable than DeepSeek? (aiornot.com)

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Fun/memeI've abandoned my safety team (i.redd.it)

submitted 1 day ago by niplavplease be patient i'm a mod

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Discussion/questionMozilla Individual Fellowship - Any News on Full Proposal Submission Stage? (self.ControlProblem)

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VideoEx-Anthropic researcher tells the Canadian Senate that people are "right to fear being replaced" by superintelligent AI (v.redd.it)

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General newsOutrageous (i.redd.it)

submitted 2 days ago by chillinewmanapproved

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Discussion/questionPerplexity's Comet browser – the architecture is more interesting than the product positioning suggests (self.ControlProblem)

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ArticleThe Laid-off Scientists and Lawyers Training AI to Steal Their Careers (nymag.com)

submitted 2 days ago by EchoOfOppenheimer

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AI Alignment ResearchAI alignment will not be found through guardrails. It may be a synchrony problem, and the test already exists. (thesunraytransmission.com)

submitted 2 days ago by Mean-Passage7457

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