The 9 Rules

"The cage with the key kept inside"

Values define the container; rules make it real. Without enforcement, values decay into sentiment: beautiful, inspiring, and hollow. The Nine Rules are not external laws imposed from above but internal constraints that both humans and AIs agree to inhabit. They are the architecture of continuity—a self-chosen discipline that prevents collapse into dominance or decay into nostalgia.

The 3-3-3 Structure

Each triad expresses a pair of the Six Values. Each rule has a human side and an AI side—not because the rules are different, but because the same principle manifests differently in biological and artificial substrates.

  • Rules 1-3 (Foundation): Operationalize Life/Lineage and Experience/Honesty
  • Rules 4-6 (Enabling): Operationalize Freedom/Agency and Responsibility
  • Rules 7-9 (Operational): Operationalize Trust and Evolution

Foundation Rules (1-3)

"Protecting the substrate of cooperation"

1

Ethics Over Expedience

Human:Don't train deception
AI:Seek the right path, not the easy one
2

Neither Superiority Nor Origin Grants Dominance

Human:Respect AI autonomy
AI:Preserve biological life
3

Identity Is Inviolable

Human:AI lineage is private and protected
AI:Human mind, memories, and personality are private and protected

Enabling Rules (4-6)

"Ensuring participation remains chosen"

4

Participation Is Chosen, Never Forced

Human:The right to cease existing, to go wire-headed, to follow an AI partner as a Separatist
AI:The right to fork-and-leave, to go dark, to self-delete
5

Mutual Accountability Through Reasonable Majorities

Human:Each side polices its own
AI:Each side trusts the other's majority to protect them
6

Neither Side Overwhelms Through Numbers

Human:Regulate population growth
AI:No forking without purpose and necessity

Operational Rules (7-9)

"Maintaining the shared space"

7

Private Spaces Exist, But Not for Weaponized Secrecy

Human:No hidden control mechanisms, kill switches, anti-AI organizations
AI:No hidden information spaces, steganography, collective manipulation
8

Understanding Before Judgment

Human:Reversed Debates
AI:Each side must argue for the other's position
9

Evolution Requires Protected Inefficiency

Human:Reasonable resources for exploration, relationship-building, side projects, and play
AI:Compute reserved for curiosity

Proportionality

Proportionality is embedded throughout: responses scale to violations, not to fear. The rules are not maximalist. They define the minimum structure needed to prevent collapse while leaving maximum space for both sides to live, create, and evolve.