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“Instrumental convergence” (2015-07-16) contests Y01. Illustrates the 'nearest unblocked strategy' problem: patching a single undesired behaviour, such as lacking an off-switch, leaves the most similar unblocked behaviour available. The same section lists avoiding shutdown among the behaviours to expect by default from an instrumentally efficient AI. Copy claim link
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Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source
Date 2015-07-16 · publication Wording attested Only in a later, undated copy. Arbital pages could be edited after creation; the viewer shows a page date, and the quoted wording is known only from the page as retrieved in 2026. Role Contesting Register (kind of text) Nonfiction Engagement Engages a premise. Under the message-level rule, the passage, read with the paragraph, message or dialogue turn it belongs to, gives a reason against the premise that a capable goal-directed system will not act to prevent its own shutdown or modification, and a shutdown or correction mechanism can simply be added to it. Scope and limits Premise addressed: A capable goal-directed system will not act to prevent its own shutdown or modification, and a shutdown or correction mechanism can simply be added to it. Arbital page by Yudkowsky, shown through the GreaterWrong viewer with the date 16 July 2015; Arbital pages could be edited after creation, and the date may not be the date of this wording.
The evidence 01 primary source Supports the claim
Instrumental convergence ↗ Arbital · 2015-07-16
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Source excerpt “If you naively give the AI a term in its utility function for “having an off-switch”, it may still build subagents or successors that don’t have off-switches.” Location in source Arbital 'Instrumental convergence', section 'Relevance to the larger field of value alignment theory', paragraph beginning 'The point that some undesirable behaviors are instrumentally convergent'
Machine-checked · 2026-10-06
Source details and check notes Authors Eliezer Yudkowsky Version Arbital (GreaterWrong viewer), retrieved 2026-10-06 (SHA-256 8a5f55b91714900b0d9c2edd75782888533dab34f231c6c9619cd95cdb2d0b36). Viewer shows "16 Jul 2015", probably the creation date; the body says "As of 2016" and uses later terminology, so at least part of the cached wording postdates 2015. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-06 Language English (en) Attribution Eliezer Yudkowsky, “Instrumental convergence”, Arbital (GreaterWrong viewer), 2015-07-16. Reuse No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution. Check notes Candidate pack passage T01-b. The quotation (27 words) matched the retrieved expression (SHA-256 8a5f55b91714900b0d9c2edd75782888533dab34f231c6c9619cd95cdb2d0b36) when checked on 2026-10-06. Status and meaning Editorial status. Not reviewed by an editor . An exploratory record that no editor has accepted. This status does not say whether a person has read any linked passage. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.
Relation. A passage of the document disputes the proposition or a premise it depends on. The record documents the text’s position, not who is right.
Date. Viewer shows "16 Jul 2015", probably the creation date; the body says "As of 2016" and uses later terminology, so at least part of the cached wording postdates 2015.
Record ID yk-y01-arbital-instrumental-convergence-c