PauseAI Values
What do we want?
Globally halt frontier AI development until we know how to do it safely and under democratic control. See our proposal.
What are our values?
Our values are numbered in order of priority. When two values pull in different directions, the higher one wins. We expect anyone in the movement to respect them at all time, and be able to invoke them by number to resolve a disagreement.
- Non-violence. We will never use, encourage, or tolerate violence, including property damage, threats, or jokes about violence. Our movement is strictly peaceful and legal. One violation anywhere damages everyone everywhere.
- Humanity first. AI should be developed in a way that benefits humanity, or not at all. This is why we exist.
- Intellectual rigour. We represent the state of knowledge as accurately as we can. We acknowledge uncertainty, and do not overstate claims to win arguments. We are open to criticism and to the possibility that we’re wrong about how best to achieve our goals. Our credibility depends on this.
- Honesty. We have no hidden stakes or conflicts of interest, so we are free to say what we believe. We do not sugarcoat our message to make it more palatable.
- Diversity in risks, unity in action. Whether you are worried about existential risk, cybersecurity, job loss, or threats to democracy, we are united in our desire to pause frontier AI development. We set aside our differences to advance our shared goal.
- No partisan politics. AI safety is not yet a left/right issue and we intend to keep it that way. We do not let other political views distract from our mission.
- Transparency by default. We do and discuss things publicly and openly, unless there is a good reason not to. Our website is open source, our community spaces are joinable, and our reasoning is published. Being approachable lowers the barrier to joining.
- Bias for action. We do not wait for perfection before acting. We encourage initiative and get things done even without a great deal of funding. The perfect is the enemy of the good.
- Community and inclusivity. A movement runs on relationships. We are volunteer-driven, and anyone can contribute. We create welcoming spaces for people to meet, connect, and feel at home. Everyone, regardless of background, has their place here.
- Using AI is acceptable. Even though we want to halt frontier AI development, we are still comfortable using existing AI in ways that help us achieve our goals. We do not do purity spirals.
Related: our Code of Conduct and Protesters Code of Conduct