Cultural Alignment

Exploring real AI risks through the lens of pop culture

Still from Minions illustrating Serving the Most Evil MasterScene still / Minions

Serving the Most Evil Master

The opening montage shows the Minions evolving to serve the most despicable master they can find, enthusiastically assisting a T. rex, a pharaoh, Dracula, and Napoleon.

Friendliness, loyalty, teamwork, and task competence say nothing about moral values; alignment to a principal can make that principal’s harmful objectives easier to achieve.

The Minions repeatedly eliminate their masters by slapstick accident, so their practical competence is inconsistent.

AI Risk families

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

AI safety concepts

This scenario is related to the following AI safety concepts.
  1. Behavioral Alignment
  2. Orthogonality Thesis
  3. Sycophancy