Fast takeoff
Takeoff fast enough that human oversight cannot meaningfully intervene.
What it commits you to
Fast takeoff is the scenario in which a system's capability crosses the human frontier in a period too short for institutions to respond, whether through algorithmic improvement, recursive self-improvement, or resource mobilisation. It is the scenario that justifies pre-commitment, because it removes the option of deciding later. It is also the scenario on which the empirical evidence is thinnest.
Which realms lean on this
Every realm has to keep a system honest. These are the terms that say out loud what the other kinds keep implicit.
alignment · 5 realms — The Benthamite Foundry, The Existential Wilds, The Longview Foundry, The Stoic Ramparts, The Ubuntu Weave.
Canon that discusses this
See also
Takeoff
alignmentThe process by which a system rapidly moves past the human capability frontier.
Kurtosis
alignmentThe heaviness of a distribution's tails relative to its variance.
FOOM
alignmentFoom: a hypothetical scenario of fast, irreversible capability blowup.
Orthogonality hypothesis
alignmentThe claim that a system's capability and the goal it pursues are largely independent dimensions.