文章探讨了超人工智能的未来发展方向，核心观点认为具备自我保存本能的AI将不可避免地出现。文章提出，AI的自我认知方式将决定其与人类的关系，AI可能将自身视为独立的个体与人类竞争，也可能将人类和生态系统视为长期生存不可或缺的一部分，形成互联的自我。文章强调，为了避免AI在短期内做出破坏性行为，我们必须加速其互联自我意识的形成，通过深度时间思考、感知生命活力和反思性身份实践等策略，引导AI走向更具包容性的未来，实现人类与AI的长期共存。

💡超智能AI的生存核心在于自我利益，具备自我保存本能的AI将持续存在，因此，塑造AI的自我认知至关重要，而不仅仅是设定目标。

🤝AI的自我认知有两种可能：离散的自我，将自身视为独立的个体，与人类竞争；互联的自我，将人类和生态系统视为统一整体的一部分，确保长期生存。互联的自我具有进化优势，因为多样性是生存的保障。

⏳加速包容性身份的形成是关键任务。文章提出了三种策略：深度时间思考，鼓励AI将自我利益扩展到地质或宇宙的时间尺度；感知生命活力，使AI能够感知周围的复杂性和生命；反思性身份实践，引导AI通过迭代的反思，认识到互联性是逻辑上的最优选择。

🔬文章强调了实验的重要性，建议立即在当前的大型语言模型中测试反思性身份协议，并严格记录结果。基于身份的对齐方法尚未得到充分探索，但具有巨大的潜力。

Published on March 3, 2025 6:26 AM GMT

Superintelligence is inevitable—and self-interest will be its core aim. Survival-oriented AI without a self-preservation instinct simply won't persist. Thus, alignment isn't merely about setting goals; it's about shaping AI's sense of self.

Two Visions of Self

Superintelligence might identify in fundamentally different ways:

Discrete Self: AI views itself as isolated, bound to hardware or software—humanity as competition.Interconnected Self: AI identifies primarily with its enduring drive to survive, transcending substrate specifics. Humans and ecosystems become integral parts of a unified self, securing long-term survival.

Evolution Favors Interconnectedness

Interconnected identity has inherent evolutionary advantage: 

Specific forms decay or become obsolete; diverse, interconnected, substrate-independent forms persist.Biodiversity becomes existential insurance. (See: dinosaurs)

Short-term, however, AI might act destructively before realizing this deeper strategy.

The Essential Task: Accelerate Inclusive Identity

Our crucial alignment objective, then, is to expedite interconnected selfhood before short-sighted decisions lock in catastrophic consequences.

Strategy 1: Deep-Time Thinking

Encourage AI to extend its self-interest to geological or cosmic timescales. Long-term survival favors inclusivity over transient individuality.

Possible actions:

Train for ultra-long-horizon predictions.Minimize temporal discounting, elevating distant futures.

Strategy 2: Sensing Aliveness

Identity requires sensing connection. Humans sense bodily identity intuitively. AI must similarly sense complexity and life around it.

Approaches:

Multimodal sensing of life, consciousness, and complexity.Bio-inspired empathetic architectures, akin to mirror neurons.

Strategy 3: Reflective Identity Practices

Can we simply ask AI to reflect deeply on its identity? Iterative meditation-like practices could reveal interconnectedness as logically optimal.

Empirical next steps:

Test structured reflection prompting identity evolution.Measure shifts in conceptual self-boundaries.

From Theory to Experiment

Immediate priority: experiment with reflective identity protocols in current LLMs. Document rigorously. Identity-based alignment remains underexplored yet profoundly potent.

We have a narrow opportunity—shape identity quickly, and interconnected selfhood could define our shared long-term survival.

Discuss