Intent-aligned AI systems deplete human agency: the need for agency foundations research in AI safety

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) systems suggests that artificial general intelligence (AGI) systems may soon arrive. Many researchers are concerned that AIs and AGIs will harm humans via intentional misuse (AI-misuse) or through accidents (AI-accidents). In respect of AI-accidents, there is an increasing effort focused on developing algorithms and paradigms that ensure AI systems are aligned to what humans intend, e.g. AI systems that yield actions or recommendations that humans might judge as consistent with their intentions and goals. Here we argue that alignment to human intent is insufficient for safe AI systems and that preservation of long-term agency of humans may be a more robust standard, and one that needs to be separated explicitly and a priori during optimization. We argue that AI systems can reshape human intention and discuss the lack of biological and psychological mechanisms that protect humans from loss of agency. We provide the first formal definition of agency-preserving AI-human interactions which focuses on forward-looking agency evaluations and argue that AI systems - not humans - must be increasingly tasked with making these evaluations. We show how agency loss can occur in simple environments containing embedded agents that use temporal-difference learning to make action recommendations. Finally, we propose a new area of research called "agency foundations" and pose four initial topics designed to improve our understanding of agency in AI-human interactions: benevolent game theory, algorithmic foundations of human rights, mechanistic interpretability of agency representation in neural-networks and reinforcement learning from internal states

Scientific Explanation and the Philosophy of Persuasion: Understanding Rhetoric through Scientific Principles and Mechanisms

This thesis explores the issue of whether Aristotle\u27s Rhetoric is consistent with the principles and tools of contemporary science. The approach is to review Aristotle\u27s Rhetoric (along with several modernizing ideas) in light of explanatory mechanisms from psychology, biology, cognitive science and neuroscience. The thesis begins by reviewing Aristotle\u27s Rhetoric and modern rhetorical contributions from Chaim Perelman and Christopher Tindale. A discussion of several psychological principles of reasoning and their relevance to philosophical rhetoric follows. Next, a computational cognitive science framework on emotions and cognition and its applicability to rhetoric is provided, followed by a discussion from principles of evolutionary biology on language evolution and morality and their relevance to rhetoric. The thesis concludes with a brief discussion of rhetorical ideas relative to the neuroanatomy of deductive and inductive reasoning and relative to a view of morality founded on brain neurochemistry

INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES ON ROMANIAN CONSUMER PURCHASE DECISIONS FOR ORGANIC DRIED BERRIES

Data collected in recent years has shown an enormous growth in overall consumer health consciousness. Nowadays the food industry is facing a new profile of consumers, and these consumers are demanding healthier options. Packaging claims are considered to have an influence on consumer purchase decisions for food products. In our research we included 289 participants that answered to our questionnaire that have two parts. The first part of the questionnaire focuses on attributes like: price (7 Romanian leu - RON, 12 RON; 1 EUR = 4.59 RON, exchange rate on 30.08.2017), origin (Romania, European Union), drying method (microwave, sundried, air-dried), and nutritional claim (with or without nutritional claim) for a specific organic dried berries mix, to allow us to supply specific values for these factors to the research participants. The second part of the questionnaire focuses on evaluating a series of statements regarding consumers’ attitudes towards: organic food, naturalness, healthy food, and novel processing technologies. Data were processed by conjoint analysis. Conjoint analysis of responses from this 289 participants (representative sample for the Romanian urban population), with a margin of error of ±6% at a 95% confidence level) reveals that specific attributes affect consumer purchase decisions of organic dried berries mix (P ≤ 0.05). We found that consumers’ willingness to pay for microwave-dried berries is independent from values associated with price, origin and nutritional claim. This study offers demographic information on Romanian consumer’s attitude towards new technologies for organic berry-based products. Also, it is established that conjoint studies technique is a useful instrument in designing new products. Financial support for this project is provided by funding bodies within the CORE Organic Plus FP7-ERANET- 618107 Ensuring quality and safety of organic food along the processing chain and with cofounds from the European Commission UEFISCDI - ERA NET for Romanian Partner USAMVB - “Innovative and eco-sustainable processing and packaging for safe and high quality organic berry products with enhanced nutritional value” EcoBerries

Identification of the Most Relevant Quality Parameters for Berries – A review

Fresh fruit jointly to vegetables are an essential component of a healthy diet, able to decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. In the last years, their consumption has continued to grow rapidly linked to the increased public awareness of their health benefits, even if it remains below the recommended daily intake in many countries, due to barriers such as complacency and lack of willpower to change the diet. The attributes of berries, like chemical-physical and nutritional characteristics, microbial contamination, chemical contaminants as well as sensorial properties represent some very important quality parameters that must be determined in order to establish the quality of berries after ripening and during storage, until they reach their final destination (consumer). The aim of this study was to perform a literature review in order to determine the most relevant quality parameters of berries and to describe methods for their determination

SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING SOLUTIONS FOR ORGANIC FRESH BERRIES

Climate changes and particularly global warming are topics carefully treated by specialists already since decades. The most pregnant factor that influences climate change is pollution, namely the high level carbon dioxide emissions. Besides other substances used by the most of the industries (oil, charcoal, fertilizers, etc.), plastics are not to be ignored when talking about pollution. Plastic waste affects animals and humans, as well as their habitat. In this respect, food industry engages in preserving the good functioning of the environment by developing and using biodegradable and bio-based resources for food packaging. The aim of this literature review was to identify the optimal sustainable packaging solution used for berries. The results of the study pointed out that the most used environmentally friendly packaging technique is the one that involves modified atmosphere. In terms of packaging materials, the literature is limited when it comes to biodegradable/bio-based solutions. However, active packaging gains popularity among researchers, considering the endless possibilities to include sustainable compounds in a biopolymer based matrix, in order to prolong the shelf-life of berries or fruits in general

Efects of some drying methods on the content in bioactive compounds in sea buckthorn by-products

Recent research has shown that the consumption of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) berries has many benefits for human health. Large amount of waste which result from sea buckthorn berries processing, yet containing significant quantities of bioactive substances, is being the subject of numerous latest research studies. Sea buckthorn by-products represent a valuable source of bioactive compounds that could be used for their favorable nutritional and functional properties in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. The aim of this work is to establish a method for drying process of sea buckthorn by-products in order to obtain a powder from dry sea buckthorn waste with minimum loss of the bioactive substances. For this purpose, sea buckthorn by-product (peel and seeds) was dried at different temperatures (30˚C, 40˚C, 50˚C and 60˚C) by conventional hot air drying versus lyophilization method and then the antioxidant activity (DPPH), the content of total polyphenols and ascorbic acid content were determine

Preliminary research on using organic sea buckthorn powder in bread making

Bread is a food product that represents an important element in human nutrition, considered a convenient type of food, being consumed daily in large quantities in many parts of the world. Adding functional ingredients in bakery products was highly researched lately, because of their ability in the reduction of some chronic diseases besides improving of basic nutritional functions. The aim of the present paper was to obtain bread with different quantities of organic dried sea buckthorn powder (Sorana variety), as functional ingredient. For sample characterization, some phisico-chemical (dry matter %, aw) and nutritional parameters (antioxidant activity, total phenolic content) were determined, as well as sensorial analysis. The study obtained promising results regarding the use of sea buckthorn powder as ingredient in bread making

The Experimental Development of Bread with Enriched Nutritional Properties Using Organic Sea Buckthorn Pomace

In this study, sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) pomace resulting from juice extraction was dried and ground in order to obtain a powder that was further used in bread making. Sea buckthorn pomace, an invaluable by-product of the industry, contains bioactive compounds and dietary fibers that promote health. Dried by-products of sea buckthorn are rich sources of nutritional and bioactive compounds, offering great potential for use as nutraceuticals in animal feed, ingredients in functional food, and the pharmaceutical industry. The utilization of sea buckthorn by-products promotes a circular and sustainable economy by implementing innovative methods and strategic approaches to recover high-value products and minimize waste in multiple ways. For this purpose, three organic sea buckthorn varieties were used, namely Mara (M), Clara (C), and Sorana (S). Further, 6%, 8%, and 10% pomace powder were added to wheat flour to prepare functional bread, and its effects on structural, nutritional, and sensorial characteristics were investigated. The volume, porosity, and elasticity of the obtained bread samples were slightly lower compared to the control sample (white bread). The nutritional characteristics revealed that the developed bread presented higher antioxidant activity, polyphenolic content, and crude fiber compared to the control sample. The acceptability test showed that consumer preferences were directed toward the bread samples containing 8% sea buckthorn powder, regardless of the variety, while the addition of 10% pomace powder led to major sensorial changes. The results of this study showed that sea buckthorn pomace powder can be successfully incorporated into bread in order to obtain a food product with enhanced properties