May 6, 2026 08:38 PM
(This post was last modified: May 6, 2026 08:41 PM by C C.)
Hunter-gatherer ‘egalitarianism’ is more complicated than we thought
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1126959
INTRO: Hunter-gatherer societies are often portrayed as models of equality, cooperation and selfless food-sharing. However, Baylor University anthropologist Duncan N.E. Stibbard-Hawkes, Ph.D., and an interdisciplinary team of researchers have found that this familiar picture oversimplifies how egalitarianism actually functions in everyday life. Their research, published in the journal PNAS Nexus, examined the Hadza, a contemporary hunter-gatherer population in Tanzania, and found that relatively equal outcomes are often maintained not only by altruism, but through social pressure and what anthropologists call “demand sharing.” (MORE - no ads)
Perfectly aligning AI’s values with humanity’s is impossible
https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-alignment
INTRO: One of the hardest problems in artificial intelligence is “alignment,” or making sure AI goals match our own, a challenge that may prove especially important if superintelligent AIs that outmatch us intellectually are ever developed. But scientists in England and their colleagues now report in the journal PNAS Nexus that perfect alignment between AI systems and human interests is mathematically impossible.
All may not be lost, the scientists say. To cope with this impossibility, they suggest a strategy involving pitting AI systems with different modes of reasoning and partially overlapping goals against each other. As the AI systems attempt to meet their personal objectives in this “cognitive ecosystem” instilled with “artificial neurodivergence,”, they will dynamically help or hinder each other, preventing dominance by any single AI.
We spoke with Hector Zenil, associate professor of healthcare and biomedical Engineering at King’s College London, about his and his colleagues’ work on alignment’s limits and its future... (MORE - details)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1126959
INTRO: Hunter-gatherer societies are often portrayed as models of equality, cooperation and selfless food-sharing. However, Baylor University anthropologist Duncan N.E. Stibbard-Hawkes, Ph.D., and an interdisciplinary team of researchers have found that this familiar picture oversimplifies how egalitarianism actually functions in everyday life. Their research, published in the journal PNAS Nexus, examined the Hadza, a contemporary hunter-gatherer population in Tanzania, and found that relatively equal outcomes are often maintained not only by altruism, but through social pressure and what anthropologists call “demand sharing.” (MORE - no ads)
Perfectly aligning AI’s values with humanity’s is impossible
https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-alignment
INTRO: One of the hardest problems in artificial intelligence is “alignment,” or making sure AI goals match our own, a challenge that may prove especially important if superintelligent AIs that outmatch us intellectually are ever developed. But scientists in England and their colleagues now report in the journal PNAS Nexus that perfect alignment between AI systems and human interests is mathematically impossible.
All may not be lost, the scientists say. To cope with this impossibility, they suggest a strategy involving pitting AI systems with different modes of reasoning and partially overlapping goals against each other. As the AI systems attempt to meet their personal objectives in this “cognitive ecosystem” instilled with “artificial neurodivergence,”, they will dynamically help or hinder each other, preventing dominance by any single AI.
We spoke with Hector Zenil, associate professor of healthcare and biomedical Engineering at King’s College London, about his and his colleagues’ work on alignment’s limits and its future... (MORE - details)