The issue is that in this case "vastly smarter" is not smart enough to truly understand the cat. It's conceivable an AI with tons of computing power could simul

The issue is that in this case "vastly smarter" is not smart enough to truly understand the cat. It's conceivable an AI with tons of computing power could simulate a cat and reverse engineer its brain to find any stimulus that would cause it to get in the cage. I also think this isn't a very good analogy. In this case we're talking about manipulating humans, where we already know manipulation is eminently possible. Heck it wouldn't even need psychological manipulation. Hack a Bitcoin exchange or find another way of making money on the internet, then it can just pay someone absurd sums to do what it wants.