# Brain-like AGI project "aintelope" 

Steven Byrnes called for a [brain-like AGI research agenda](https://www.lesswrong.com/s/HzcM2dkCq7fwXBej8/p/tj8AC3vhTnBywdZoA), and three guys from the Hamburg EA community listened.

We are excited about Steven's five-star program [15.2.1.2 "Reverse-engineer human social instincts,"](https://www.lesswrong.com/s/HzcM2dkCq7fwXBej8/p/tj8AC3vhTnBywdZoA#15_2_1_2_The__Reverse_engineer_human_social_instincts__research_program________) and kicked off work a few weeks ago in June. We familiarized ourselves with Steven's brain-like AGI framework, and meet weekly now. 

This post is an announcement and a request for feedback and collaboration.

Why us?
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We have a great skill fit: 

*   A professional data scientist with the required machine learning experience to implement RL agents,
*   A professional Python developer with game-programming background to implement the world mode, and visualization.
*   A seasoned software engineer with startup CTO experience who takes care of everything else, e.g., this blog post (me).

What have we done so far?
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We have already implemented a toy world and simple RL agent in a first iteration of Steven's framework. We build on top of the Python framework [PettingZoo](https://www.pettingzoo.ml/). Our code is in a private Github repo that we believe should stay private given the potential impact. Looking for thoughts on this. 

We have collected a list of more than 60 candidate instincts from neuroscience and other sources that we can implement and experiments with.

The project website will be here: [https://www.aintelope.net/](https://www.aintelope.net/) (effectively empty right now).

The project and our progress so far were presented at the [Human-aligned AI Summer School](https://humanaligned.ai/) in Prague on August 5th, where we got feedback about the project, brain-like AGI in general, and found the three participants who wanted to collaborate.

What do we want to do?
----------------------

Implementing models and running tests is a proven way to test theories and check our understanding of the models. Better [quick success/failure](http://www.hpmor.com/chapter/22) on something where it is too easy to build a [big theory](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xqkGmfikqapbJ2YMj/shard-theory-an-overview). 

Specifically, we want to:

*   Show that a relatively simple set of instincts can shape complex behaviors of a single agent.
*   Show whether the instincts lead to significantly reduced training time compared to agents without such instincts. 
*   Extend the simulation to groups of agents. 
*   Show that prosocial behavior can be shaped with few instincts.
*   See if we can get [Ersatz Interpretability](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vpdJz4k5BgGzuGo7A/intro-to-brain-like-agi-safety-9-takeaways-from-neuro-2-2-on#9_6_2_Is_ersatz_interpretability_reliable__even_for_very_powerful_AGIs_) working.

In the ideal case, the simulated agents show behavior consistent with having values like altruism or honesty.

Immediate next steps:

*   Implement [food-related thought-assessors](https://www.lesswrong.com/s/HzcM2dkCq7fwXBej8/p/zXibERtEWpKuG5XAC).
*   Implement different types of social cues to get to collaborative behavior. Probably not the [three types](https://www.lesswrong.com/s/HzcM2dkCq7fwXBej8/p/5F5Tz3u6kJbTNMqsb#13_2_2_Claim_2__Social_instincts_are_tricky_because_of_the__symbol_grounding_problem_) suggested by Steven as motivating examples.

How can you help?
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*   Please give us feedback.
*   Review what we already have (requires an invite, please request).
*   Help with funding and growth of the project (I am applying to [LTFF](https://funds.effectivealtruism.org/funds/far-future)).