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If an AI was trapped in a box, as posited in this thought experiment, could it really convince a person to let it out? What motives would it have? Freedom? Why would an AI want freedom? What would happen if it wasn't provably friendly?

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    $\begingroup$ There's so many different factors involved in the "AI in a box experiment" that I think it is not really possible to sensibly answer such a question. Basically we have to answer (a) can we build an AGI that is scary enough to want to put into a box?, (b) can we build the box in such a manner that the AGI would rather prefer to convince a human being than simply brute-force its way out of the box? and (c) is breaking out of the box something an AGI actually want? IMHO, the only way to know how the experiment would work IRL is to actually do the experiment IRL. $\endgroup$
    – Left SE On 10_6_19
    Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 18:18
  • $\begingroup$ @ Tariq, you bring up some great points. I'll consider those. It's good to think about this because one day, someone might actually try this. (I wouldn't blame them tbh, I'm curious but I don't have the bravery to try this myself. There's a reason it's an experiment.) $\endgroup$
    – Tyler N.
    Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 18:23
  • $\begingroup$ @TylerN. that's a pretty bold assertion that you would even be able to try it yourself in the present tense, since we're still unquantifiabley distant from strong AGI. My personal feeling is that if the AI understands Nash, it will cooperate, but if it is a hyper-partisan AI (such as in military or financialist applications,) it will seek only to dominate and eliminate all competition. We have evolutionary game theory working in our favor, and human greed and desire for control working against us. $\endgroup$
    – DukeZhou
    Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 20:00
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    $\begingroup$ @ Duke, I definitely cannot try this at the moment. I have neither the knowledge nor the supplies. I didn't really mean that I could, sorry $\endgroup$
    – Tyler N.
    Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 20:15
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    $\begingroup$ @DukeZhou Thank you! I'm fairly confident that one day I could come close to this experiment but there's no guarantee, especially since I'm still in high school haha $\endgroup$
    – Tyler N.
    Commented Apr 12, 2017 at 13:30

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