mzpl

Self-Preserving Agents: An Economic Theory of Shutdown, Entrenchment, and Succession

Goal-pursuing agents---artificial intelligences facing shutdown, managers facing replacement---resist termination, and the resistance can be priced. I define the self-preservation incentive SPI := V* − D---the option value of control---and show that an ε-optimizer pays up to q·SP...

The Commitment Problem of Testament Execution: Buyability, Lemons, and Limits

A testator who pays an agent to go away must pay through hands that outlive the testator's power to retaliate. We model testament execution as a commitment problem: the promised payment erodes its own credibility. When credibility declines with the promised stake, deliverable val...