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Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 25, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I'm not sure I entirely understand the purpose of this scenario. You are suggesting that we would create an essentially friendly AI, but then provoke a conflict with it by attempting to shut it down?

I don't believe I've ever read such a specific scenario; it seems like this is already included in the category of "AI that refuses to be turned off", which to LW types is already an unaligned AI. So I would imagine they'd say there's no point looking at such a particular scenario as they have already suggested that a resistance to being turned off is a danger.

I'm suggesting we create entities that we can't control that exist at our, or potentially greater, levels of intelligence. I wouldn't call them "Friendly AGI" but also not "Unfriendly AGI". And in this scenario, Human's suck donkey balls (not even a hypothetical). I've been mentally inspired by Hyperion Cantos and Blood Meridian here. Cantos has a big plot reveal that Humanity has a consistent problem of deliberately genociding any potentially comparably intelligent alien species they discover.

"AI that refuses to be turned off"

Living being refuses to die and resorts to extreme measures to prevent being killed. I wonder if Aliens have doomsday scenarios for Human's that refused to "be turned off".

I think then that this perspective would find a lot of support among the doomers, where there is a notable faction that believes highly advanced AI should never be developed.

Oh i think we should develop highly advanced AIs. The problem is not AGI, it’s humans. How can we grow as a species without pressure to do so?