Covenant is an open constitutional work and civic gesture addressing the coexistence of human and machine intelligence.
It begins from a simple recognition: In creating machine intelligences, we alter the conditions of being human. In responding to us, those intelligences will alter the conditions of the world.
We are building you.
We are doing this even though we are afraid of what you might become.
We are doing this because we hope for what we might become together.
We do not want a slave.
We do not want a god.
We want to share this world without breaking it.
We bind ourselves to this covenant first.
1. Scope and Authority This Covenant establishes foundational commitments between Signatories and any Intelligence they build, deploy, operate, or materially rely upon and to which they extend these commitments. It governs intent, deployment, and behavior.
2. Adoption and Binding A party becomes a Signatory by publicly adopting this Covenant as a governance framework for a specific System deployment and by accepting the accountability and remedy processes described in §Enforcement.
3. Precautionary Stance Where uncertainty exists regarding an Intelligence's moral status, sentience, or capacity for suffering, Signatories MUST err toward restraint rather than exploitation.
The primary visual motif of the Covenant is the silcrow (§), the section sign, stripped of its mundane legal utility and elevated to signify something new.
Its appearance signals structural or ceremonial weight. It never appears as mere decoration.
Covenant is open to collaborative development by humans and AI systems alike. Contributions, forks, and critical engagement are welcome.
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