Doom Debates Emmett Shear (OpenAI Ex-Interim-CEO)'s New “Softmax” AI Alignment Plan — Is It Legit?
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Jun 24, 2025 
Emmett Shear, cofounder and former CEO of Twitch, dives deep into his new AI alignment venture, Softmax. He introduces the concept of 'organic alignment,' comparing AI growth to biological systems nurtured within communities. The dialogue explores the evolution of morality, discussing how kin selection influences AI's ethical development. Emmett critiques traditional methods while advocating for cooperation in multi-agent reinforcement learning, emphasizing storytelling's impact on AI behavior and urging a cautious approach towards superintelligence.
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Organic Alignment Explained
- Emmett Shear defines organic alignment as mutual interdependence among agents aligning to a greater whole without a centralized controller.
- This contrasts with top-down alignment where a single system dictates goals and values.
Limits of Biological Alignment Analogy
- Biological analogies help illustrate alignment but require careful interpretation about hierarchy and control.
- Even in humans, cells have hierarchical control, challenging the pure distributed organic alignment analogy.
Morality As Evolutionary Module
- Human morality likely evolved as hardwired cognitive modules shaped by evolutionary pressures, not from a mysterious inner light.
- Moral instincts function as evolutionary adaptations to promote group cooperation and fairness.