Organize large games/contests where a lot of candidates are locked up in an area, and have a finite time to reach a certain point / find a certain object.
The exact rules would be specially designed each time for that years challenge, by a group of rationalists and game designers. So the details would vary, but some common themes would be:
physical prowess does not come into play (beyond maybe moving around faster, not getting tired as easily etc.)
some people would be liars / saboteurs, and not real candidates
For example, the candidates are blindfolded and brought into a large underground circular room, whose only unlocked exits are twenty slides along on the edge (so, one-way exit only). The goal is to take the exit that’s due north.
Or, the players are dropped in a maze, and each player is given twenty balls with his name written on them. In the maze are tall glass tubes in which the player can drop their balls. The players know that at the end of the games everyone gets points for the balls with his name that are in “good” tubes (from 10 to 1 points, depending on whether his ball is at the bottom or top—only ten balls fit in a tube), and loses points for balls in “bad” tubes (whatever it’s position). There are also neutral tubes. On the tubes are various signs and portents, and on the walls are statements about the the meanings of the signs (“about 10% of good tubes have red triangles”, “two squares of the same color cancel out”, “a blue triangle means that there’s a bad tube close to this one”). The players have 30 minutes to place their balls.
Additional twists:
there are in fact several simultaneous games taking place, in the same place, but the rules are such that it’s very difficult to tell who’s part of which game (for example, if some players’ goal is to unmask/identify other players)
the goal may not be reachable at all (no candidates accepted this year). The “global” rules of the contest might include that there must be a certain probability each year (10% ?) that the contest is impossible.
candidates are not alone but in teams
… well, there is plenty of inspiration to take from board games and TV shows. And many factors of those can be controlled by careful design (importance of luck or of trivia knowledge, how much “herd behaviour” can come into play, etc.). The games should be more complicated than what’s said above, and contain many red herrings. The designers should try to introduce as much sources of bias and irrationality as possible.
two teams, red and blue team. Blue team plays as computer scientists who are trying to build an AI to help them do something about an asteroid heading towards earth, (or some other extential threat that would justify building an AGI without knowing if its friendly) but they build it so fast they have no idea if its friendly. They win if they save humanity.
the read team plays as the AI, and gets a point for each paperclip in its future light cone.
you would have to have rules like: the AI is contained in a box, the AI must execute all orders given to it by the blue team, etc.
Organize large games/contests where a lot of candidates are locked up in an area, and have a finite time to reach a certain point / find a certain object.
The exact rules would be specially designed each time for that years challenge, by a group of rationalists and game designers. So the details would vary, but some common themes would be:
physical prowess does not come into play (beyond maybe moving around faster, not getting tired as easily etc.)
some people would be liars / saboteurs, and not real candidates
For example, the candidates are blindfolded and brought into a large underground circular room, whose only unlocked exits are twenty slides along on the edge (so, one-way exit only). The goal is to take the exit that’s due north.
Or, the players are dropped in a maze, and each player is given twenty balls with his name written on them. In the maze are tall glass tubes in which the player can drop their balls. The players know that at the end of the games everyone gets points for the balls with his name that are in “good” tubes (from 10 to 1 points, depending on whether his ball is at the bottom or top—only ten balls fit in a tube), and loses points for balls in “bad” tubes (whatever it’s position). There are also neutral tubes. On the tubes are various signs and portents, and on the walls are statements about the the meanings of the signs (“about 10% of good tubes have red triangles”, “two squares of the same color cancel out”, “a blue triangle means that there’s a bad tube close to this one”). The players have 30 minutes to place their balls.
Additional twists:
there are in fact several simultaneous games taking place, in the same place, but the rules are such that it’s very difficult to tell who’s part of which game (for example, if some players’ goal is to unmask/identify other players)
the goal may not be reachable at all (no candidates accepted this year). The “global” rules of the contest might include that there must be a certain probability each year (10% ?) that the contest is impossible.
candidates are not alone but in teams
… well, there is plenty of inspiration to take from board games and TV shows. And many factors of those can be controlled by careful design (importance of luck or of trivia knowledge, how much “herd behaviour” can come into play, etc.). The games should be more complicated than what’s said above, and contain many red herrings. The designers should try to introduce as much sources of bias and irrationality as possible.
Voted up if only because this reads like a description for the first reality TV show I would actually want to watch.
Here you go :) (and here’s the kids’ version)
Love this idea, here is another game:
two teams, red and blue team. Blue team plays as computer scientists who are trying to build an AI to help them do something about an asteroid heading towards earth, (or some other extential threat that would justify building an AGI without knowing if its friendly) but they build it so fast they have no idea if its friendly. They win if they save humanity.
the read team plays as the AI, and gets a point for each paperclip in its future light cone.
you would have to have rules like: the AI is contained in a box, the AI must execute all orders given to it by the blue team, etc.
Fascinating concept.