Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c903IR // #c903Synthesis

Four castes of AI by scope: oracles answer questions but take no actions; genies execute commands in the world but set no goals; sovereigns set their own goals and act openly; tools are narrow systems with no agency. Restricting a system's role - oracle-only, say - is itself a safety strategy, though each caste leaks into the next.

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

[Use when]

Designing or evaluating what role an AI system should be permitted to play.

[Why it matters]

A design vocabulary for limiting what an AI is allowed to be, not just what it is allowed to do.

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