“Iterated Development and Study of Schemers (IDSS)” by ryan_greenblatt
Description
In a previous post, we discussed prospects for studying scheming using natural examples. In this post, we'll describe a more detailed proposal for iteratively constructing scheming models, techniques for detecting scheming, and techniques for preventing scheming. We'll call this strategy Iterated Development and Study of Schemers (IDSS). We'll be using concepts from that prior post, like the idea of trying to make schemers which are easier to catch.
Two key difficulties with using natural examples of scheming are that it is hard to catch (and re-catch) schemers and that it's hard to (cheaply) get a large number of diverse examples of scheming to experiment on. One approach for partially resolving these issues is to experiment on weak schemers which are easier to catch and cheaper to experiment on. However, these weak schemers might not be analogous to the powerful schemers which are actually dangerous, and these weak AIs [...]
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Outline:
(01:36 ) The IDSS strategy
(02:10 ) Iterated development of scheming testbeds
(04:35 ) Gradual addition of capabilities
(08:39 ) Using improved testbeds for improving scheming mitigation techniques
(09:09 ) What can go wrong with IDSS?
(13:20 ) Conclusion
The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.
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First published:
October 10th, 2025
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QpzTmFLXMJcdRkPLZ/iterated-development-and-study-of-schemers-idss
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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
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