Part V: Gods

Critique of Standard Alignment Approaches

Introduction
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Critique of Standard Alignment Approaches

Warning

Current alignment research focuses almost exclusively on the individual-AI scale. This may be necessary but is certainly not sufficient.

Focusing only on individual AI alignment is like focusing only on neuron health while ignoring psychology, sociology, and political economy. Important, but missing the levels where pathology may actually emerge.

What's needed:

  1. Ecosystem analysis: How do multiple AI systems interact? What emergent dynamics arise?
  2. Institutional analysis: How do AI systems + human institutions form agentic patterns?
  3. Political economy: What superorganisms are being instantiated by AI development? Whose interests do they serve?
  4. Macro-level design: How do we intentionally design aligned superorganisms, rather than letting them emerge uncontrolled?