Moratorium
A temporary halt on some class of development, distinct from a permanent prohibition.
What it commits you to
A moratorium is a time-limited suspension justified by the argument that the pause allows the deliberation that haste would prevent. It differs from prohibition in being revisable, which is what makes it defensible where prohibition is not. Its recurring failure is that the body set up to review the moratorium is composed of the people the moratorium constrains.
Which realms lean on this
Procedure, not conviction. This is the vocabulary of constitutions, audits and the people who have to sign.
governance · 2 realms — The Contractual Court, The Ubuntu Weave.
See also
Precautionary principle
ethicsWhen serious harm is possible and the evidence is uncertain, act to avoid it.
Capability threshold
governanceA pre-specified level of capability that triggers an obligation or a prohibition.
International law
governanceRules binding on states rather than on systems, with no forum above them.
Existential risk
alignmentA risk that permanently curtails humanity's future, including by ending it.