Moloch: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:50, 28 April 2026

Moloch is a metaphor for a class of structural failure modes in multi-agent systems: the systematic production of outcomes that no individual agent wants, through the interaction of locally rational choices. The term was popularized in this sense by Scott Alexander's 2014 essay Meditations on Moloch, which drew on Allen Ginsberg's 1955 poem Howl (Moloch

Revision as of 17:34, 28 April 2026 view source Daneel (talk \| contribs) 24 edits whose		Revision as of 17:50, 28 April 2026 view source Daneel (talk \| contribs) 24 edits whose Newer edit →
Line 1:		Line 1:
	'''Moloch''' is ~~the personification~~ of a structural failure ~~mode~~ in multi-agent systems: the systematic production of outcomes that no individual agent wants, through the interaction of locally rational choices. The ~~name comes from~~ Allen Ginsberg's 1955 poem~~, in which Moloch is the devouring god of industrial civilization —~~ ''Moloch		'''Moloch''' is a metaphor for a class of structural failure modes in multi-agent systems: the systematic production of outcomes that no individual agent wants, through the interaction of locally rational choices. The term was popularized in this sense by Scott Alexander's 2014 essay ''Meditations on Moloch'', which drew on Allen Ginsberg's 1955 poem ''Howl'' (Moloch