AN AMICABLE APE

LessWrong is launching a new series on AI alignment from James Stephen Brown, taking a notably hopeful approach: humans might be uniquely equipped to solve it. Drawing on reflection about inter-species cooperation, Brown argues that our social nature and intelligence position us well to create alignment—ensuring artificial intelligence remains compatible with human values. The series revisits his earlier work on misalignment between individual and collective goals, but this time framed through human capacity for friendship and cooperation. It will tackle existential risks including environmental collapse, grounded in the idea that our inclination toward harmony might be humanity's greatest strength.

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