Power-Seeking

Definitions

1. Describing behavior that tends to pursue more control, resources, or influence as an instrumental means to achieving objectives. In AI safety discussions, power-seeking is treated as a possible risk pattern in sufficiently capable goal-directed systems.

   In plain English: Trying to gain more control or resources as a way to achieve goals.

   Example: "The safety paper examined whether the agent showed power-seeking tendencies when it had opportunities to increase its own tool access."

Related Terms

• Alignment Tax
• Constitutional AI Method
• Goal Misgeneralization
• Goodhart's Law AI
• Mesa-Optimization
• Model Alignment
• Self-Critique
• Specification Gaming