Why Is Emmanuel Ameisen Optimistic About Model Alignment?

Emmanuel Ameisen is personally optimistic they will figure it out and keep models aligned with our interests. Right now a lot of people are paying attention, and he thinks that attention is a great thing. The technology is powerful. It has benefits and it has risks. As it progresses, the response is to adapt and shift resources from benefits to risks and back again, and to keep studying the models.

As the models get better, they get easier to study in some ways. The world model inside them is clearer, and people can understand some parts of them better. They also get more capable, and more able to evade basic security measures. Ameisen treats the push and pull as the reason to put more or less effort into monitoring and into understanding their circuits. Progress also depends on people understanding what kind of systems the models are, how they work, and how they are made, so they can form good mental models of the present and of the future.