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Agent Foundations: A Theoretical Debate on Agency

The concept of Agent Foundations (AF) is debated, with arguments suggesting it's either a well-defined, self-contained theoretical task or an ill-defined endeavor. The author argues against the middle ground that AF requires empirical grounding, stating that if AF is a valid field, its empirical aspects exist outside of AF itself, similar to how computer implementation serves computability theory. The core idea is that AF should either stand on its own conceptual merits or its components should be reframed within other, more coherent fields. AI

IMPACT This discussion probes the foundational definitions within AI research, potentially influencing how future research on agency and alignment is framed.

RANK_REASON The item is an opinion piece discussing the conceptual validity of a field of study.

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COVERAGE [1]

  1. LessWrong (AI tag) TIER_1 English(EN) · Fernand0 ·

    "AF needs empirical grounding" is a meaningless valley of compromise

    <p><a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/w/agent-foundations"><span>Agent Foundations</span></a><span> is the attempt to </span><i><span>conceptually</span></i><span> understand agency</span><span class="footnote-reference" id="fnrefw5dpzvtyyje"><sup><a href="#fnw5dpzvtyyje">[1]</a>…