OpenAI Researcher: Limited-Agency AI Is a Defensible Path, Not a Nonsense Distinction
jachiam0 · x · 2026-09-21
Responding to the claim that the oracle/agent distinction is nonsensical since doing science requires broadly deployed autonomous agents, OpenAI researcher jachiam0 argues the distinction isn't entirely nonsensical.
- Agency is a spectrum: rather than a binary oracle/agent split, there are agents with fewer limitations and agents with more.
- If you believe it's technologically feasible to build extremely capable AI systems with highly-limited agency, preferring that path is a justifiable position.
- Whether it holds ultimately depends on how feasible such high-capability, low-agency systems turn out to be.
Related event: Debate: Do Tool AIs Inevitably Become Agent AIs?(3 posts)→
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