timtyler comments on Satisficers want to become maximisers - Less Wrong

21 Post author: Stuart_Armstrong 21 October 2011 04:27PM

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Comment author: timtyler 22 October 2011 12:36:35PM *  2 points [-]

I notice a satisficing agent isn't well-defined.

What I usually mean by it is: maximise until some specified criterion is satisfied - and then stop.

However, perhaps "satisficing" is not quite the right word for this. IMO, agents that stop are an important class of agents. I think we need a name for them - and this is one of the nearest things. In my essay, I called them "Stopping superintelligences".

What happens when it has two ways of satisfying its goals?

That's the same as with a maximiser.

Comment author: Stuart_Armstrong 22 October 2011 12:54:58PM 1 point [-]

What happens when it has two ways of satisfying its goals?

That's the same as with a maximiser.

Except much more likely to come up; a maximiser facing many exactly balanced strategies in the real world is a rare occurance.

Comment author: timtyler 22 October 2011 07:16:40PM 1 point [-]

Well, usually you want satisfaction rapidly - and then things are very similar again.

Comment author: DanielLC 22 October 2011 09:56:02PM 1 point [-]

Then state that. It's an inverse-of-time-until-satisfaction-is-complete maximiser.

The way you defined satisfaction doesn't really work with that. The satisficer might just decide that it has a 90% chance of producing 10 paperclips, and thus its goal is complete. There is some chance of it failing in its goal later on, but this is likely to be made up by the fact that it probably will satisfy its goals with some extra. Especially if it could self-modify.