Core idea: "Dogma in constitution, pragmatism in execution"
7 Sovereign Principles (non-negotiable boundaries)
7 Engagement Principles (adaptive execution)
Canonical prompt that makes any LLM reason within these boundaries
What makes it different:
Executable, not theoretical - Comes as a prompt you can use right now
Case-study validated - Shows how it would have prevented real disasters
AI-native - Designed for LLM integration from the start
Example: Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
What happened: €30B+ penalties, criminal charges
Framework analysis: Triggers constitutional halt (S2: Integrity violation → deception)
Result: Forces honest choice: redesign, de-rate performance, or exit market
GitHub: https://github.com/SebastFock/Sovereign-Engagement
Looking for feedback:
What other historical tech disasters should we analyze?
How can we improve the prompt engineering?
What AI ethics dilemmas should we test?
How to integrate with existing AI agent frameworks?
This isn't just theory—it's ethics as executable code.
StrategicEthos•4w ago
The core idea is an operating system based on the rule 'dogma in constitution, pragmatism in execution.' It defines seven immutable Sovereign Principles as ethical boundaries, paired with seven adaptive Engagement Principles for tactical execution. A key design feature is its AI compatibility—it's structured to allow LLMs to act as constitutional advisors, checking proposals for principle violations.
I'm sharing this to get feedback from the HN community, particularly on:
1. The applicability of the case studies (Meta's API governance dilemma, Volkswagen's emissions scandal) as tests of the framework. 2. The viability of using structured prompts to make ethical reasoning a consistent, audit-friendly process in organizations. 3. The implementation challenges of embedding such a system into existing corporate governance or product development lifecycles.
The canonical prompt and YAML framework are on GitHub (link in the submission). I'm keen to discuss the concept of 'AI as a constitutional guardrail' and whether this approach could help close the gap between having ethics policies and making ethical decisions under pressure.