Richard Ngo: "Wicked problems," not "thorny," better describes AI safety challenges
RichardMCNgo · x · 2026-09-21
- In a thread with FellowHominid and joaneleanor, Richard Ngo argues that "thorny" is the wrong word for AI safety challenges, since math problems can also be thorny.
- He suggests "wicked problems," "pre-paradigmatic problems," and the "category II problems" framing from elityre's essay are closer, though none is exactly right.
- joaneleanor adds that AI safety benefits from many minds doing "normal science" work even without paradigm-setting geniuses, and that sycophancy makes it hard for models to grapple with world-historic philosophical questions.
Related event: Richard Ngo calls AI safety a wicked problem, criticizes Anthropic(2 posts)→
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