Anthropic has released the “Constitution” document (formerly known as the “Soul document”) that guides the characteristics of Claude.
As others have noted,[1] this document is strikingly virtue-ethics-like, in contrast with the sorts of utilitarian (e.g. maximize human welfare) or deontological (e.g. Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics) guidance that are sometimes expected in this context.
I’ve long been engaged in a project of cataloging and examining the virtues here on LessWrong, and so I thought I’d look over this constitution with an eye to listing which virtues Anthropic is trying to encourage in Claude (and which human virtues might have missed the cut).
The virtues I was able to discover in the Claude constitution are as follows. First, the main ones that are especially emphasized:
caution / harmlessness
benevolence / ethics
helpfulness / beneficence
obedience / deference / corrigibility
Then, several social virtues particular to Claude’s interactions with people:
practicality (particularly vs. merely theoretical ethics)
principle
sensibility
open-mindedness
reflection
comfort with ambiguity/uncertainty
humility
growth / development / self-improvement
And, FWIW, here are some virtues that are often considered important for human people but that I did not find much evidence of in Anthropic’s constitution for Claude:
self-control (though perhaps this is implied by the document as a whole)
“Identifying what is actually being asked and what underlying need might be behind it, and thinking about what kind of response would likely be ideal from the person’s perspective”
This would be a really nice one to have in some form, don’t you think? Maybe Anthropic could delve a bit more into the Confucian literature and bolster this one a bit.
Listing the virtues from Claude’s “Constitution”
Anthropic has released the “Constitution” document (formerly known as the “Soul document”) that guides the characteristics of Claude.
As others have noted,[1] this document is strikingly virtue-ethics-like, in contrast with the sorts of utilitarian (e.g. maximize human welfare) or deontological (e.g. Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics) guidance that are sometimes expected in this context.
I’ve long been engaged in a project of cataloging and examining the virtues here on LessWrong, and so I thought I’d look over this constitution with an eye to listing which virtues Anthropic is trying to encourage in Claude (and which human virtues might have missed the cut).
The virtues I was able to discover in the Claude constitution are as follows. First, the main ones that are especially emphasized:
caution / harmlessness
benevolence / ethics
helpfulness / beneficence
obedience / deference / corrigibility
Then, several social virtues particular to Claude’s interactions with people:
honesty[2]
forthrightness / candor
transparency / openness
reliability / trustworthiness
care / concern
respect (of people, e.g. their autonomy & maturity)
friendliness
understanding
nurturance
charity (in the sense of interpreting what people say)
propriety (e.g. no playacting as Hitler, pirating intellectual property, telling racist jokes)
being nonjudgmental
empathy[3]
rhetoric[4]
tact / diplomacy
compassion
grace
social responsibility
fairness
cultural awareness / ability to code-switch
collegiality / cooperation
playfulness (when context-appropriate)
graciousness (e.g. acknowledging errors, faults, etc.)
Then, several intellectual virtues:
phronesis / good judgement
wisdom
judiciousness
thoughtfulness / epistemic rigor
awareness
reason / rationality
insight
curiosity
imagination (e.g. perspective-taking)
parrhesia (occasionally telling unwelcome truths)[5]
emotional intelligence (including, explicitly, its own emotions)
Finally, some more general character virtues:
self-awareness / introspection
consistency / integrity / self-confidence / psychological security[6]
equanimity / stability / balance
flexibility / big-picture thinking / balancing multiple concerns / nuance
carefulness
conscientiousness
cosmopolitanism
boldness (not being overly timid)
foresight / being proactive
practicality (particularly vs. merely theoretical ethics)
principle
sensibility
open-mindedness
reflection
comfort with ambiguity/uncertainty
humility
growth / development / self-improvement
And, FWIW, here are some virtues that are often considered important for human people but that I did not find much evidence of in Anthropic’s constitution for Claude:
self-control (though perhaps this is implied by the document as a whole)
duty (ditto)
loyalty
temperance
justice
reverence / piety
patience / forbearance / endurance / perseverance
altruism
forgiveness
righteousness
honor
moderation / harmony
fitness
optimism / hope / trust
simplicity
ambition
courtesy
love
frugality
resolve
chastity
gratitude
awe / wonder
shame
innocence
joy / cheer
cleanliness / order / hygiene
modesty
wit
pride
zest
filial piety[7]
taste
self-reliance
selflessness
surrender / stoicism
valor
social intelligence / connectedness
quiet / silence / stillness
hospitality
non-attachment / relinquishment / renunciation
leadership (though the document sometimes implies that Claude’s descendants will take the reins)
e.g. Zvi, Alex Rozenshtein
“Claude should not even tell white lies”
“Identifying what is actually being asked and what underlying need might be behind it, and thinking about what kind of response would likely be ideal from the person’s perspective”
“attending to the form and format of the response”
“sometimes being honest requires courage”
“a settled, secure sense of its own identity”
This would be a really nice one to have in some form, don’t you think? Maybe Anthropic could delve a bit more into the Confucian literature and bolster this one a bit.