What is self-modification? (In particular, does having one AI build another bigger and more wonderful AI while leaving “itself” intact count as self-modification? The naive answer is “no”, but I gather the informed answer is “yes”, so you’ll want to clarify this before using the term.)
What is wrong with the simplest decision theory? (That is, enumerate the possible actions and pick the one for which the expected utility of the outcome is best. I’m not sure what the standard name for that is.) It’s important to answer this so at some point you state the problem that timeless decision theory etc. are meant to solve.
I gather one of the problems with the simplest decision theory is that it gives the AI an incentive to self-modify under certain circumstances, and there’s a perceived need for the AI to avoid routine self-modification. The FAQ question might be “How can we avoid giving the AI an incentive to self-modify?” and perhaps “What are the risks of allowing the AI to self-modify?”
What problem is solved by extrapolation? (This goes in the CEV section.)
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a bounded utility function?
Can we just upload a moral person? (In the “Need for FAI” section. IMO the answer is a clear “no”.)
I suggest rephrasing “What powers might it have?” in 1.10 to “What could we reasonably expect it to be able to do?”. The common phrase “magical powers” gives the word “powers” undesired connotations in this context, makes us sound like loonies.
More questions to perhaps add:
What is self-modification? (In particular, does having one AI build another bigger and more wonderful AI while leaving “itself” intact count as self-modification? The naive answer is “no”, but I gather the informed answer is “yes”, so you’ll want to clarify this before using the term.)
What is wrong with the simplest decision theory? (That is, enumerate the possible actions and pick the one for which the expected utility of the outcome is best. I’m not sure what the standard name for that is.) It’s important to answer this so at some point you state the problem that timeless decision theory etc. are meant to solve.
I gather one of the problems with the simplest decision theory is that it gives the AI an incentive to self-modify under certain circumstances, and there’s a perceived need for the AI to avoid routine self-modification. The FAQ question might be “How can we avoid giving the AI an incentive to self-modify?” and perhaps “What are the risks of allowing the AI to self-modify?”
What problem is solved by extrapolation? (This goes in the CEV section.)
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a bounded utility function?
Can we just upload a moral person? (In the “Need for FAI” section. IMO the answer is a clear “no”.)
I suggest rephrasing “What powers might it have?” in 1.10 to “What could we reasonably expect it to be able to do?”. The common phrase “magical powers” gives the word “powers” undesired connotations in this context, makes us sound like loonies.