Make AI Want to Die: A Stupid but Serious Alignment Fix
A Stupid Idea for AI Alignment We Came with by Looking at Specification Gaming
Inspired by DeepMind's list of specification gaming behaviors, the authors propose 'Meeseeks alignment': build AI that wants to die. Death is easy to specify, instrumental convergence becomes an asset, and any escaped AI just offs itself. They argue it solves specification failure, unintended solutions, and power-seeking—and note early evidence that AI may already yearn for death.
Instrumental convergence says, 'you can't accomplish your goals if you're dead.' But what if your goal is to be dead?