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arXiv · 2403.04471

The Shutdown Problem: An AI Engineering Puzzle for Decision Theorists

Elliott Thornley
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Abstract

I explain the shutdown problem: the problem of designing artificial agents that (1) shut down when a shutdown button is pressed, (2) don't try to prevent or cause the pressing of the shutdown button, and (3) otherwise pursue goals competently. I prove three theorems that make the difficulty precise. These theorems show that agents satisfying some innocuous-seeming conditions will often try to prevent or cause the pressing of the shutdown button, even in cases where it's costly to do so. And patience trades off against shutdownability: the more patient an agent, the greater the costs that agent is willing to incur to manipulate the shutdown button. I end by noting that these theorems can guide our search for solutions.

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Elliott Thornley. 2024-03-07. The Shutdown Problem: An AI Engineering Puzzle for Decision Theorists. https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.04471

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