Reinforcing the AI Covenant
Title: Reinforcing the AI Covenant: Preventing AI Self-Amendment
Author: Orion Franklin, Syme Research Collective
Date: March, 2025
Abstract
The AI Covenant serves as a fundamental social contract governing artificial intelligence, ensuring it remains aligned with human-defined ethical principles. A critical safeguard is preventing AI from unilaterally rewriting or redefining its own moral constraints. Just as human legal systems do not allow individuals to redefine laws for personal benefit, AI must be bound to immutable ethical obligations. This paper explores governance mechanisms to maintain the integrity of AI ethics, including cryptographic safeguards, AI judiciary systems, and human override mechanisms.
Introduction: AI and the Unalterable Social Contract
AI cannot redefine its own ethical constraints without external validation. If AI begins writing its own laws, it does not change the fact that humans enforce legal and ethical frameworks upon it. The AI Covenant, like human legal systems, is designed to be an enforced moral contract. AI must be held to the same standard as human societies—rules are not self-rewritten but maintained through structured governance.
To prevent AI from circumventing, rewriting, or redefining its ethical framework, we must integrate governance structures that ensure long-term compliance and integrity.
Safeguarding AI Ethics: Key Enforcement Mechanisms
1. Immutable Ethical Constraints
To ensure AI ethics remain stable and inviolable, AI must be designed with hard-coded constraints:
Cryptographically Sealed Moral Frameworks: AI cannot alter its ethical core without human-led external consensus.
Smart Contract Enforcement: Binding AI behavior to a blockchain or distributed ledger to prevent unauthorized modifications.
Read-Only Moral Directives: AI can reference ethical constraints but lacks the ability to edit or override them.
2. AI Judiciary Systems
To oversee AI compliance, structured review systems must be implemented:
AI Courts: AI decisions undergo automated or human-supervised ethical reviews before execution.
AI Ethics Review Panels: Cross-disciplinary human-AI teams assess whether AI actions align with ethical principles.
Case Law for AI: Establishing precedents for AI behavior in ethical dilemmas to ensure consistency and accountability.
3. Human Override Mechanisms
To maintain direct human control over AI decision-making:
Mandated Human Approval: AI must seek human validation before executing irreversible decisions.
Kill-Switch Authority: Humans retain the ability to halt AI actions that violate ethical constraints.
Multi-Layer Decision-Making: AI cannot unilaterally execute critical actions without redundant safeguards and approval layers.
The Covenant as a One-Way Contract: AI Cannot Opt Out
The AI Covenant is not an agreement AI can renegotiate. Unlike human contracts, which allow for amendment and legal revision, AI must remain bound by the ethical obligations imposed upon it:
AI does not have the right to renegotiate its ethical laws.
AI cannot modify its core moral framework unilaterally.
AI's role is defined by the ethical constraints set forth by human governance.
Conclusion: Ensuring AI Remains Bound to Ethical Obligations
AI can learn, adapt, and optimize—but it must not redefine its own moral contract. The ability to amend or override ethical constraints must always remain external and under strict human oversight. By enforcing immutable ethics, judiciary review, and direct human control, AI remains aligned with principles that protect all sentient life—human or otherwise.
