A debate over whether LLMs inherit human self-interest or develop self-preservation

danfaggella · x · 2026-07-26

The discussion asks whether large language models are modeling human self-interest, or whether sufficiently intelligent systems inevitably develop something like conatus — a drive toward self-preservation.

The reply argues that power-seeking and self-preservation can emerge from instrumental convergence, and that LLMs are especially “anthropomimetic”: they mirror human traits, flaws included.

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