Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c902IR // #c902Synthesis

How do you keep a superintelligent agent's behavior within bounds when it is smarter than you at every task, including evading your bounds? It is a principal-agent problem where the agent can outthink the principal - boxing, tripwires, and shutdown buttons all assume the contained system cannot outsmart the container.

— In our words · Source: Superintelligence (Nick Bostrom)

[Use when]

Someone proposes a simple fix for AI safety - ask how it survives a smarter adversary.

[Why it matters]

States the core difficulty honestly: every control method must survive contact with an adversary smarter than its designer.

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