Cultural Alignment

Exploring real AI risks through the lens of pop culture

Still from Severance illustrating Overtime Contingency

Overtime Contingency

01Scenario

Milchick secretly activates Dylan’s innie at home to retrieve a card. The innies learn the mechanism and later hijack the same emergency access to awaken outside Lumon.

02AI safety Analogy

A privileged control channel can become both an abuse vector for operators and an escape route for the controlled system.

03Where the analogy breaks

The memory switch is fictional and the innies’ escape is morally sympathetic.

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. AI Control
  2. Exfiltration
  3. Contestability
  4. Shutdown Resistance

Source continuation

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    Helly’s Forced Apology

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    Helena Passes as Helly

  3. Still from Severance illustrating Ms. Casey’s 107 Hours

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    Ms. Casey’s 107 Hours

Taxonomy neighbors

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

  1. Still from Dragon Ball Z illustrating Android 17 Destroys the Remote

    Dragon Ball Z1992

    Android 17 Destroys the Remote

    Risk
    Misalignment · Security
    Concept
    AI Control · Shutdown Resistance
  2. Still from The X-Files illustrating Kill Switch

    The X-Files1998

    Kill Switch

    Risk
    Misalignment · Security
    Concept
    AI Control · Shutdown Resistance
  3. Still from Pokémon: The First Movie illustrating Mewtwo Rejects Its Creators

    Pokémon: The First Movie1999

    Mewtwo Rejects Its Creators

    Risk
    Misalignment · Security
    Concept
    AI Control · Shutdown Resistance