# Instrumental convergence

Record: term-convergence · Type: term · Edition: 0.20.0 · Evidence cutoff: 2026-09-15

[Read in the atlas](https://theaiatlas.org/ideas/convergence/) · [Complete evidence](https://theaiatlas.org/evidence.html#idea-convergence) · [JSON](https://theaiatlas.org/records/term-convergence.json) · [Pinned complete dataset](https://theaiatlas.org/editions/e74392d479c0e7da8636a7d6a0454d03510df86ffca9931eb86babd952665ca5/data.json)

Dataset pointer: `/glossary/23`. Reviewed: 2026-09-15.

> This is a curated, AI-assisted editorial atlas, not a census, affiliation classifier or independently fact-checked authority.

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## Publication dates and source age

Source is over 18 months old.

Newest dated source: 2012-05. Assessed at this edition’s evidence cutoff: 2026-09-15. 18-month boundary: 2025-03-15.

Publication age does not establish validity or a new source-reading date. Unknown dates and month/year precision remain explicit in the JSON record.

## /summary

The idea that systems pursuing different goals may still find similar resources or abilities useful along the way.

Claim: claim-term-convergence-1a5192ba3d7825ca26b24a72. Annotation: synthesis.

[superintelligent-will](https://nickbostrom.com/superintelligentwill.pdf)

## /definition

The proposal that agents pursuing many different final goals may find some similar intermediate goals useful, such as retaining resources or the ability to act.

Claim: claim-term-convergence-1e4c26398ee834b2e16dc7b8. Annotation: synthesis.

[superintelligent-will](https://nickbostrom.com/superintelligentwill.pdf)

## /placement

Helps explain concerns about power-seeking without assuming an AI feels hatred.

Claim: claim-term-convergence-25f52a21ad9f2e54a62ed1b2. Annotation: editorial.

[superintelligent-will](https://nickbostrom.com/superintelligentwill.pdf)

## /distinction

This is conditional reasoning about goal-directed systems, not a claim that every model must seek power.

Claim: claim-term-convergence-09422ce4d5c74cb753a9bb98. Annotation: synthesis.

[superintelligent-will](https://nickbostrom.com/superintelligentwill.pdf)

## Source provenance

### superintelligent-will

[The Superintelligent Will: Motivation and Instrumental Rationality in Advanced Artificial Agents](https://nickbostrom.com/superintelligentwill.pdf)

Nick Bostrom / Minds and Machines · First-hand source (primary) · Published: 2012-05 · Material last read: 2026-09-15 · Verification: read

Read scope is described in the source note.

Read abstract and formulations of orthogonality and instrumental convergence. Theoretical theses with qualifications, not measured outcomes for a learning system.

No archive check recorded.