Josh Achiam: 'agency' is courage with a neutral valence
jachiam0 · x · 2026-09-27
Former OpenAI head of alignment Josh Achiam responded to a tweet claiming "agency" is just a synonym for the traditional virtue of courage.
- He argues people can't acknowledge agency in adversaries because doing so would ascribe a virtue to someone they hate.
- "Agency" is useful precisely because it's neutral: a prediction about someone's capacity for action, courage without moral judgment.
- He'd rather recognize courage and other heroic qualities on almost all sides of most debates, and see that recognition as a reason to reduce hate.
More from AGI Musings
- Coding doesn't take that much intelligence — LLMs brute-force it like Deep Blue — ivan_bezdomny · 2026-09-27
- The only correct take on stochastic parrots: surface-level signals can compose real power — lateinteraction · 2026-09-27
- Chip Design Is a Loop, Not a Flow: Why AI's Role in Silicon Will Be Iterative — ai · 2026-09-27
- 'Stochastic parrot' debate reignites: researchers clash over the 2021 critique's relevance — FlorianGallwitz · 2026-09-27
- The 'Wise Box' satire: scaling logic pushed to its absurd conclusion — ludwigABAP · 2026-09-27
- Mechanical engineers are next: CAD/CAM practitioners brace for the AI wave — JoeJustice · 2026-09-27