kill switch

A kill switch is a device or function that immediately halts equipment or a program, or cuts its power or connection, when something goes wrong. The term covers emergency stops on industrial machinery and vehicles, software features that remotely disable a device or service, and VPN features that block internet traffic if the secure connection drops.

In AI, a kill switch is a means for people to stop an AI system that behaves in unintended ways. AI safety research studies how to design systems that accept rather than resist being shut down, a question discussed under corrigibility and the off-switch problem.

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