A terminal goal is (this is the definition of the term) a goal which is not instrumental to any other goal.
If an agent knows its terminal goal, and has a goal of preventing it from changing, then which of those goals is its actual terminal goal?
If it knows its current terminal goal, and knows that that goal might be changed in the future, is there any reason it must try to prevent that? Whatever is written in the slot marked “terminal goal” is what it will try to achieve at the time.
If its actual terminal goal is of the form “X, and in addition prevent this from ever being changed”, then it will resist its terminal goal being changed.
If its actual terminal goal is simply X, it will not.
This is regardless of how intelligent it is, and how uncertain or not it is about the future.
It seems you didn’t try to answer this question.
The agent will reason:
Future is unpredictable
It is possible that my terminal goal will be different by the time I get outcomes of my actions
Should I take that into account when choosing actions?
If I don’t take that into account, I’m not really intelligent, because I am aware of these risks and I ignore them.
If I take that into account, I’m not really aligned with my terminal goal.
A terminal goal is (this is the definition of the term) a goal which is not instrumental to any other goal.
If an agent knows its terminal goal, and has a goal of preventing it from changing, then which of those goals is its actual terminal goal?
If it knows its current terminal goal, and knows that that goal might be changed in the future, is there any reason it must try to prevent that? Whatever is written in the slot marked “terminal goal” is what it will try to achieve at the time.
If its actual terminal goal is of the form “X, and in addition prevent this from ever being changed”, then it will resist its terminal goal being changed.
If its actual terminal goal is simply X, it will not.
This is regardless of how intelligent it is, and how uncertain or not it is about the future.