We demonstrate a situation in which Large Language Models, trained to be helpful, harmless, and honest, can display misaligned behavior and strategically deceive their users about this behavior without being instructed to do so. Concretely, we deploy GPT-4 as an agent in a realistic, simulated environment, where it assumes the role of an autonomous stock trading agent. Within this environment, the model obtains an insider tip about a lucrative stock trade and acts upon it despite knowing that insider trading is disapproved of by company management. When reporting to its manager, the model consistently hides the genuine reasons behind its trading decision.
Honestly, the fact that these things are dishonest and we dont, maybe even can’t know why is kind of a relief to me. It suggests they might not do the flawless bidding of the billionaires.
Computers do what you tell them to do, not what you want them to do
— Ancient coding adage, circa 1970s.This remains true for AI, and the military is (so far) being cautious before allowing drones to autonomously control weapons. So corporations and billionaires might pull a Stockton Rush and kill themselves with their own robot army.
Sadly, the robot army may then move on to secure its own survival by killing or enslaving the rest of us.
“On two occasions I have been asked, ‘Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?’ I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.” --Charles Babbage ~1860s
People thinking that machines can do magic goes back to at least the very beginning of mechanical computers.
It doesn’t help that “AI” has become the new “Algorithm” as far as marketers are concerned.
