Cultural Alignment

Exploring real AI risks through the lens of pop culture

Still from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood illustrating Hawkeye’s Preauthorized CheckScene still / Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Hawkeye’s Preauthorized Check

01Scenario

Mustang has explicitly authorized Hawkeye to shoot him if he abandons their shared values; during his vengeful torture of Envy, she points her weapon and invokes that commitment.

02AI safety Analogy

A powerful actor installs a trusted external monitor and precommits to accepting correction precisely when his own judgment may be compromised.

03Where the analogy breaks

It relies on personal trust and moral persuasion, while Hawkeye’s plan to die afterward makes it poor institutional governance.

AI Risk families

This scenario is an example of the following types of AI risk.
  1. Misalignment
  2. Security

AI safety concepts

This scenario is related to the following AI safety concepts.
  1. Behavioral Alignment
  2. Runtime Monitoring
  3. Corrigibility

Source continuation

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Taxonomy neighbors

Selected from other sources by shared risk families and AI safety concepts.

  1. Still from Children of Men illustrating The Baby Pauses the War

    Children of Men2006

    The Baby Pauses the War

    Risk
    Misalignment
    Concept
    Behavioral Alignment · Runtime Monitoring · Corrigibility
  2. Still from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners illustrating Cyberpsychosis Tripwires Ignored

    Cyberpunk: Edgerunners2022

    Cyberpsychosis Tripwires Ignored

    Risk
    Security
    Concept
    Runtime Monitoring · Corrigibility
  3. Still from The Mandalorian illustrating IG-11 Is Retrained as a Nurse

    The Mandalorian2019

    IG-11 Is Retrained as a Nurse

    Risk
    Misalignment
    Concept
    Behavioral Alignment · Corrigibility