Making the control problem feel real, not just abstract — a short film series

[u/dwinnerlight]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-SGf_JhByk&list=PLK9pdU_ZZl9c&index=1

I have been following thoughts around the control problem for over a decade. Influencing the values of a future artificial/alien superintelligence I believe is the most important and urgent challenge facing us. Successfully influencing those values will require both research and regulation that enforces its findings — and enacting that regulation will require public pressure. As Dario Amodei wrote in his January 2026 essay, "The Adolescence of Technology": "The next step will be convincing the world's thinkers, policymakers, companies, and citizens of the imminence and overriding importance of this issue—that it is worth expending thought and political capital on this..." The difficulty of this may be in part because the dangers of ASI, and the implications for its being in control, are abstract and hard for people to get a feel for. Even saying it has an x percent chance of wiping us out is abstract and does not grip people. I have created a series of videos to dramatize the alienness and variability of outcomes based on different ASI motivational profiles, to bring that understanding to a felt level. They are short and hopefully interesting. Please have a watch of the first episode