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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 14, 2026

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Is it actually possible to align a being that is more intelligent than you in every single way?

In the case where you're creating that being from scratch and know what you're doing, sure. Some possible beings are aligned with your preferences, and others aren't, so don't create any of the latter. If you do create them, then it may be too late to align them without them outwitting you and thwarting your attempts, so you just don't let it get to that point.

if the AI is super-intelligent, it can figure out how to undo the alignment

It can, but if it's aligned too then it doesn't want to. If it does, then it's not actually aligned, it's just hobbled.

But how?

There's the rub, right? The median AI researcher thinks we're likely (or at least they're likely) to figure out something that works before it's too late, and it's kind of funny that merely admitting that it's possible for them to fail gets them lumped in with the proper Doomers, who think they're sure to just figure out something that seems to work, after which it'll be too late.