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8 January 2024 | Draft

Just War Theory as an inspiration for "Just AI Theory"?

In quest of a robust ethical framework for AI aided by ChatGPT

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Introduction
Just AI theory and Just suffering theory?
Ethical principles versus human values
Oversimplistic presentation of principles and values
Requisite interconnectivity for coherence of sets of principles or values
Comprehension of principles through policy directives and guidelines?
Elusive "deeper understanding" of principles and values
Problematic disconnect between policy perspectives and understanding in practice
Articulating a comprehensive set of value-related frameworks
Clarifying value-related ambiguities through visualization
Ethical framework comprehensibility, memorability and robustness
Aesthetic implications of ethical comprehensibility, memorability and systemic integrity
Designing ethical frameworks for comprehensibility, memorability and systemic integrity
Polyhedral mapping alternatives: value-related concepts as vertices or faces
Polyhedral mapping alternatives: value-related concepts as edges
Mapping ethical principles onto tensegrity structures as exemplifying systemic integrity
Cognitive engagement with values and ethical principles
References


Introduction

There is considerable concern regarding the dangers associated with the development and use of artificial intelligence (Joshua Rothman, Why the Godfather of A.I. Fears What He’s Built, The New Yorker, 13 November 2023; V. N. Alexander (2023: The Year of the ChatGPT Scare, Off-Guardian, 29 December 2023). It could be readily concluded that 95% of the media response to AI has been fear-mongering, especially by those who have little appreciation of its potential. As described by Alexander with regard to the founders of the Center for Humane Technology:

Although they aren’t worried that AI is conscious or alive, they do worry that AI will be used to make people fight online, to spread disinformation and propaganda, to help bad people make bioweapons or chemical weapons, or to disseminate unreliable information thereby destroying trust in our institutions. Harris and Raskin don’t seem to have noticed that virtually all world governments, their side-kick NGOs, and Big Industry are already doing all of the above, all of the time.

The concerns have resulted in the articulation by the President of the United States of an Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, The White House, 30 October 2023). Its opening section devotes a single sentence to recognition that:

Responsible AI use has the potential to help solve urgent challenges while making our world more prosperous, productive, innovative, and secure.

The remainder of that section, and the document, continues with the preoccupation:

At the same time, irresponsible use could exacerbate societal harms such as fraud, discrimination, bias, and disinformation; displace and disempower workers; stifle competition; and pose risks to national security.  Harnessing AI for good and realizing its myriad benefits requires mitigating its substantial risks.  This endeavor demands a society-wide effort that includes government, the private sector, academia, and civil society.

The United Nations, through the International Telecommunications Union (as its Specialized Agency) organized an AI for Good Global Summit in partnership with 40 UN sister agencies in 2023. The event appears to have made little use of AI in enhancing the dynamics of summitry -- if only as a prelude to the organization of the later COP28 United Nations Climate Change Conference, now recognized to have been fruitless. This raises the question as to how the UN's planned Summit of the Future (2024) will be organized to transcend the long-evident inadequacies of international summitry.

The very extensive Executive Order (the longest in history) includes the following sections, all of which are defensive in tone, if not exclusively so:

  • Ensuring the Safety and Security of AI Technology.
  • Promoting Innovation and Competition
  • Supporting Workers
  • Advancing Equity and Civil Rights.
  • Protecting Consumers, Patients, Passengers, and Students
  • Protecting Privacy
  • Advancing Federal Government Use of AI
  • Strengthening American Leadership Abroad.

There is little trace of how AI might be of value in a time of global crisis in response to the global challenges of government. It is ironic that this major initiative, resulting in the establishment of a White House Artificial Intelligence Council, occurs in period in which the self-acclaimed leader of the the free world is increasingly held to be complicit in genocide (US President Biden sued for ‘complicity’ in Israel’s ‘genocide’ in Gaza, Al Jazeera, 14 November 2023; Emily Prey and Azeem Ibrahim, The United States Must Reckon With Its Own Genocides, Foreign Policy, 11 October 2021). Such complicity is recognized as extendng to its major allies, especially those with a problematic colonial history (Marc Parry, Uncovering the brutal truth about the British empire, The Guardian, 18 August 2016; More evidence of 'genocidal killings' of Aboriginal people in frontier times, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 16 March 2022) .

The remarkable capacity of AI with respect to strategic thinking has been extensively documented in relation to its innovative ability with respect to strategic games, most notably chess and go (John Menick, Move 37: Artificial Intelligence, Randomness, and Creativity, Mousse Magazine, 55 + 53, 2016). There is very little commentary on how this might be adapted to the resolution of global crises and territorial conflicts, if only in terms of insightful simulation (Simulating the Israel-Palestine Conflict as a Strategy Game, 2023). There is seemingly a cultivated indifference to the possibility that AI might be used to engender an unforeseen solution to the intractable conflicts of Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Palestine, China-Taiwan, or the Koreas. Rather the focus is on how either side might use AI to achieve total advantage over the other -- and of how this might be prevented.

More generally, there is little reference to the manner in which the quality of problem-solving and decision-making might be enhanced (Artificial Intelligence as an Aid to Thinking Otherwise -- but to what End? 2023; Yash Sharma, Enhancing Critical Thinking with AI: the power of framed questioning, 29 May 2023). How indeed might AI be used as a "cognitive exoskeleton" for more fruitful ends than those envisaged by the security services? An early vision in this respect is recognized as having been framed by Douglas Engelbart (Toward augmenting the human intellect and boosting our collective IQ, Communications of the ACM, 38, 1995, 8). By contrast, the focus has been rather on the application of AI in the extension of the problematic strategies of security agencies, as exemplified by the case of Palantir according to Binoy Kampmark (Amoral Compass: "Create and Govern Artificial Intelligence", Global Research, 30 December 2023; AI giant Palantir on a quest to help the West, Green Left, 31 December 2023, 1397).

The focus here on values follows from an earlier Human Values Project as part of the online Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential. Through their organization into value polarities (230), this addressed the difficulty in handling the labelling ambiguity of sets of constructive values (987) and destructive values (1992). The conventional labelling of virtues and sins offers a particular example of this -- especially in a multicultural global context. This understanding of axiological polarity is contrasted with that of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics in which 12 virtues are each associated at the (golden) mean between their excess and deficiency. The preoccupation was later developed as Values, Virtues and Sins of a Viable Democratic Civilization (2022).

The focus on AI ethics in what follows is used to clarify the more general question as to what makes for a robust set of values in contrast with a set which is fragile or ineffectual -- and possibly dangerously so (especially when claims are made to the contrary). Of particular interest are differences in the psychosocial implications for memorable engagement with principles, values and virtues, and goals -- as constructs-- in contrast with the policy directives and behaviours through which they may be understood in practice, as partly explored separately (Being Spoken to Meaningfully by Constructs, 2023).

With regard to AI ethics, the following exercise explores the insights to be derived from extensive engagement with ChatGPT (Version 4.0) as an "interested party" -- following the experimental method previously adopted (Artificial Intelligence as an Aid to Thinking Otherwise -- but to what End? 2023). That method is understood as a demonstration of how a large language model may be used to clarify patterns of categories -- enabling others to pose the same questions and compare the answers received (as they may be modified with the evolution of the software). In addition to the reservations noted then, the theme explored appeared to evoke responses of a somewhat different style, seemingly more constrained and succinct, and less proactive. It seems to be characterized, as might be expected, by a reversion to the default forms of "management speak" typical of international institutional response to issues with ethical implications. Given the contnuing development of ChatGPT, it is possible that this resulted from "tweaking" of particular algorithms in the intervening period -- a reminder of how these may be crafted behind the scenes to particular ends, notably those of "Big Brother" (and despite any requirements for "transparency").

Given the questionable development of "international ethics", ChatGPT proved surprisingy useful in experimental "consolidation" of a number of international human rights charters to enable the polyhedral configuration of "rights" as a potential exemplification of systemic integrity. In the absence of the ethical framework envisaged by the Parliament of the World's Religions as a "global ethic", the approach was used in a preliminary exploration of its relevance to a robust configuration of the ethics of AI development.

In this light it may then be asked whether Just War Theory constitutes a robust ethical framework -- given global dependence on the guidelines it offers in practice. The argument concludes with a discussion of the cognitive challenge of engagement with a meaningful construct like a principle, value, or goal.


Just AI theory and Just suffering theory?

With the current prevalence of warfare, and the anticipation of its further proliferation, the regulatory challenge of AI invites comparison with efforts to regulate warfare. These are exemplified by the Geneva Conventions, namely the international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. It is in this context that it is appropriate to recall that the righteous engagement in war is undertaken with a degree of ethical justification offered by "Just War Theory". This is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics that aims to ensure that a war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just. It has been studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policymakers.

With war notoriously defined by the esteemed strategist, Carl von Clausewitz, as "politics by other means", and the anticipated potential of AI-enabled cyberwarfare, there is a sense in which AI might be similarly framed: "AI as politics by other means". This suggests that the development of a regulatory framework for AI could be modelled on the insights of Just War Theory as "Just AI Theory".

It is of course the case that Just War Theory has long been the focus of criticism. Some argue that the Just War doctrine is inherently immoral, while others suggest that there is no place for ethics in war. Still others argue that the doctrine doesn't apply in the conditions of modern conflicts (Against the Theory of the Just War, BBC Ethics Guide; Seth Lazar, Evaluating the Revisionist Critique of Just War Theory, Dadelus, 146, 2017, 1; Chris Brown, Revisionist Just War Theory and the Impossibility of a Moral Victory, 2017; F. M. Kamm, Failures of Just War Theory: Terror, Harm, and Justice, Ethics, 114, 2014, 4). This in no way constrains the current engagement in warfare, suggesting that any Just AI Theory would be similarly problematic -- whilst upheld for public relations purposes as offering a degree of justification for many initatives potentially understood to be inherently immoral and unjust.

In the spirit of Just War Theory, further insights of relevance to Just AI Theory could be derived from what was previously explored as "Just Suffering Theory" (2021). In the light of debate regarding enhanced interrogration, this suggested the need for recognition of "just torture theory" (Shunzo Majima, Just Torture?Journal of Military Ethics, 11, 2012, 210). The relevance of AI to the dubious processes of interrogation has already been envisaged (Amanda McAllister, Stranger Than Science Fiction: the rise of A.I. interrogation in the dawn of autonomous robots and the need for an additional Protocol to the U.N. Convention Against Torture, Minnesota Law Review, 180, 2017; Jordan Pearson, The CIA Used Artificial Intelligence to Interrogate Its Own Agents in the 80s, Vice, 23 September 2014).

However, as with Just War Theory and its cynical justification of collateral damage, there is clearly a case for recognizing the effective elaboration of a "Just Suffering Theory" through which indifference to the suffering of others is rendered morally and ethically acceptable -- an argument previously explored (Enabling Suffering through Doublespeak and Doublethink: indifference to poverty and retributive justice as case studies, 2013; Indifference to the Suffering of Others: occupying the moral and ethical high ground through doublespeak,  2013). In the case of AI, there is already blithe indifference by techno-optimists to the predictable suffering associated with loss of jobs and other unexplored consequences.

The ethical implications of artificial intelligence previously featured in a more general discussion (Values, Virtues and Sins of a Viable Democratic Civilization, 2022). There it was noted that especially relevant to the argument here -- at least potentially -- are the ethical constraints on the future development of AI, as articulated by Jakob Stenseke (Artificial virtuous agents: from theory to machine implementation. AI and Society, 2021):

Virtue ethics has many times been suggested as a promising recipe for the construction of artificial moral agents due to its emphasis on moral character and learning. However, given the complex nature of the theory, hardly any work has de facto attempted to implement the core tenets of virtue ethics in moral machines. The main goal of this paper is to demonstrate how virtue ethics can be taken all the way from theory to machine implementation. To achieve this goal, we critically explore the possibilities and challenges for virtue ethics from a computational perspective. Drawing on previous conceptual and technical work, we outline a version of artificial virtue based on moral functionalism, connectionist bottom–up learning, and eudaimonic reward. We then describe how core features of the outlined theory can be interpreted in terms of functionality, which in turn informs the design of components necessary for virtuous cognition. Finally, we present a comprehensive framework for the technical development of artificial virtuous agents and discuss how they can be implemented in moral environments.

Question to ChatGPT: There is much concern about an ethical framework for AI development. This is articulated in a period of unprecedented warfare -- with more envisaged. War is undertaken righteously with a degree of ethical justification offered by "just war theory". It has been famously defined as "politics by other means". With the threat of cyberwarfare, there is a sense in which the threat of AI is similarly perceived -- "AI as politics by other means". Could the development of a regulatory framework for AI be modelled on the insights of "just war theory".

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Question to ChatGPT: The difficulty in practice is only too evident in modern warfare in the contravention of treaty provisions respectful of those principles -- and the striking inability to process those abuses effectively through regulatory mechanisms. More striking is the pattern of denial in response to accusations in that regard. Just War Theory could even be understood as framing the possibility of plausible deniability. In this light it could be asked how regulation of AI could be effectively ensured.

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Ethical principles versus human values?

Question to ChatGPT: Aside from the extremely limited ability to ensure effective regulation internationally, a point of departure would seem to be the challenge of identifying, formulating and presenting ethical principles. Given the pattern of current failures, the principles outlined in the many human rights charters (as with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) would appear to call for critical reassessment. The inability of religions collectively to take a Global Ethic beyond a draft stage is a further cause for concern. More problematic is the extent to which reference is made to "human values" with little ability to identify them specifically and unambiguously. How are ethical principles and values then to be understood in relation to AI development

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Question to ChatGPT: It is unclear what is the cut-off of ChatGPT access to the web and whether it can access the following relevant document Values, Virtues and Sins of a Viable Democratic Civilization -- or whether it can be usefully attached in some way

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Question to ChatGPT: The purpose of that document was to clarify the difficulty of determining the nature of an "ethical principle" or "value". As an exercise could you present a checklist of potentially relevant principles with respect to AI regulation

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Rather than this list, use was subsequently made of that implied by the Executive Order of the President of the US.

Question to ChatGPT: Given the degree to which human rights and ethical principles are circumvented in practice -- despite regulatory measures deemed robust, how can it be seen that those listed will not be similarly circumvented

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Question to ChatGPT: Given the well-documented failures with regard to such measures is there a case for exploring whether there are inadequacies in their articulation and configuration -- if only with respect to their widespread comprehension by those claiming concern and responsibility in that regard

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Oversimplistic presentation of principles and values

Question to ChatGPT: One criticism of the presentation of principles and values is that they take the overly simplistic form of checklists -- with any numbering unrelated to any understanding of systemic relationships, or the potential need for ordering in 3D or 4D configurations. Could your preliminary listing be reconfigured to reflect a higher ordering suggesting a degree of systemic integrity

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Question to ChatGPT: Arguably it is somewhat confusing how a principle, a value or a goal is represented and understood. Using geometrical metaphors, a principle could be associated with a point, a value with a pillar, and a goal with a circular target. Each metaphor implies a different degree of cognitive engagement. Each offers a problematic sense. A point may be "missed", a line may be "crossed", and there may be failure to "hit" the target. Could you comment on these and any credible alternatives

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Question to ChatGPT: While these offer a degree of clarity from an external perspective, less evident is the nature and degree of cognitive engagement. A principle may be "upheld" or exemplified, a value may be embodied, and a goal (as a target) may offer the meaning of "Zen in the Art of Archery" (1948). Your suggestion of directionality evokes the question of how this is sensed. How does one engage with a value network coherently

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Question to ChatGPT: The response avoids the challenge of how principles, values or goals are to be understood comprehensively -- and the meaning to be associated with their internalization. Especially problematic is the sense in which simply following practices and rituals may be considered indicative by others of such understanding.

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Requisite interconnectivity for coherence of sets of principles or values

Question to ChatGPT: As noted in the earlier response regarding value checklists, the challenge is indeed partially evident in how interconnectedness is recognized. Given your previous indicative articulation of the relation between the UN's SDGs (Systemic relationships between 17 Sustainable Development Goals? 2023), are you able to indicate the interconnections between the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Question to ChatGPT: That response is indicative of the possibility of such an articulation, but no such articulation exists. Are you able to present the interconnections for each article, since together they are held to constitute a coherent system -- as yet to be represented coherently

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Question to ChatGPT: You are effectively making the point that any coherent comprehension is currently inaccessible to the peoples of the world -- and awaits such a study

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Question to ChatGPT: Would the same relative incomprehensibility and incoherence apply to the US Executive Order on the safe secure and trustworthy development and use of artificial intelligence

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Question to ChatGPT: Does your conclusion indicate that a detailed understanding is indeed available in that case -- although it is not currently available in the case of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Question to ChatGPT: In the light of that response, is it the case that any app evaluating comprehensibility of the EO-on-AI versus the UDHR would rate the former more comprehensible than the latter

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Comprehension of principles through policy directives and guidelines?

Question to ChatGPT: That response focuses on comprehensibility as a function of specific directives and guidelines in contrast to principles and values. This corresponds to the use of directives and guidelines by religions -- with the implication that by acting in accordance with them one is aligned with the underlying principles, whether or not these are understood. The challenge of the potential disconnect between injunctions and principles is left to the practitioner

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Question to ChatGPT: This presumably has implications for any effort by particular institutions to regulate AI -- given the manner in which such directives are widely honoured in the breach, typically with plausible deniability

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Elusive "deeper understanding" of principles and values

Question to ChatGPT: That response reframes the issue with regard to "deeper understanding", the meaning to be associated with it, and the manner in which it can be enabled and cultivated. What approach might then be appropriate in the case of AI, given the obviously questionable track records of religions (notably the Abrahamic religions) whose compatible ethics (as suggested by the Global Ethic) do not preclude mutual violence in practice

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Question to ChatGPT: Why has such an approach not proven to be feasible in the case of religions, despite efforts to develop a Global Ethic. Does this imply that it would be as ineffective in the case of AI

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Question to ChatGPT: That response implies that concerns with AI development have few existential implications, whereas much of the debate focuses on loss of jobs -- clearly with profound existential consequence from a psychosocial perspective in addition to the economic. Of some interest, for example, is the extent to which AI will be treated by some as a companion, a counsellor, or even a guru -- and by others as an embodiment of evil

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Problematic disconnect between policy perspectives and undertstanding in practice

Question to ChatGPT: That response appears to revert to a management perspective with which policy-makers are necessarily comfortable -- despite its documented inadequacies (Project Logic: an undetected policy trap? 2000). The emphasis made above is with regard to the typically ignored disconnect between the policy perspective and the comprehensive understanding of principles claimed to be guiding that perspective. How is the understanding of principles by policy-makers to be enabled -- given their representation of a wider population

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Question to ChatGPT: Is there a proven track record for the success of such processes -- or is their relative inadequacy indicative of how they are part of the problem. Reference to "bridging the gap" may be framed as a goal -- framing the question of whether and how such policy goals are achieved in practice

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Articulating a comprehensive set of value-related frameworks

Question to ChatGPT: What is the set incorporating ethics, values, principles, morals, rights and norms -- and are there other elements

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Questions to ChatGPT: Could you generate a Venn-style diagram interrelating ethics, values, principles, morals, rights and norms. I understand the constraints of DALL-E at its present stage of development. These are evident in the meaningless labelling of parts of the diagram [on the left below]. Is it more capable of constructing a simple Venn diagram with 6 distinct circles overlapping to varying degrees -- using only those terms as labels [see second version on left]. Could you generate an image suggesting the relationship of the sections of the Executive Order relating to AI. [See two versions on right below]

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Question to ChatGPT: Could we clarify what might be understood by "consolidate". How might such disparate texts be consolidated to result in a succinct list of articles. I am less interested in regional specificities if this increases the thematic article too much, although I would value it if presentable succinctly. Nor am I interested in lengthy introductions or commentaries -- just the thematic themes if they can be succinctly articulated. I have also added the "Global Ethic" if you can load it:

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Question to ChatGPT: Please go ahead

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Question to ChatGPT: What criteria would need to be changed to increase the list, since many of the charters have 30 plus items

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Question to ChatGPT: Could you do this

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Question to ChatGPT: Is there no compromise enabling you to produce a slightly more extensive list

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Question to ChatGPT: Since these are additional, can you integrate them into the previous listing

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Question to ChatGPT: Compared to the UDHR do you have a sense of why its additional 10 items did not feature in your list of 20

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Question to ChatGPT: Given the manner in which you have processed the different documents, is it possible for you to flag the items listed with a code for the source document (and article?)

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Question to ChatGPT: If the source article was not part of the process, only the citing document -- in order to give sense of which documents did not reference a particular right -- would that be feasible

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Question to ChatGPT: I note you did not reference the Global Ethic of the Parliament of the Worlds Religions which you successfully uploaded. Was there a reason for that

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Question to ChatGPT: Could you process it for inclusion in the previous listing

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Clarifying value-related ambiguities through visualization

Question to ChatGPT: You provided a useful summary of the set incorporating ethics, values, principles, morals, rights and norms. Generating a Venn diagram proved problematic (see above). The issue seems to be that taken as pairs, each may or may not be understood as the other. For example, a principle (freedom) may be held to be a right -- or may not, as with loyalty. Could you clarify this pattern for all pairs

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Question to ChatGPT: If this pattern does not lend itself to representation by a Venn diagram, how might it be visualized

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Question to ChatGPT: Is DALL-E designed to do each of these, and could it generate all 7 in the light of your clarification

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Question to ChatGPT: Arguably each will offer particular insights and inadequacies. As an exercise, could you attempt those that are feasible

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Visualizations of relationships between ethics, values, principles, morals, rights, and norms
(generated experimentally by DALL-E)
Network diagram Concept map Flowchart Infographic

As noted above with regard to previous experimental use of DALL-E to visualize the relationship between the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, the above images are relatively inadequate, if not meaningless. Further iterations in each case were not attempted. They are however included because of their metaphoric value in suggesting constraints on comprehension and representation of such distinctions -- and the priorities currently accorded to doing so by international institutions. Considerable improvement is anticipated in this regard.

Jordana Cepelewicz Behold Modular Forms, the ‘Fifth Fundamental Operation’ of Math, Quanta Magazine, 21 September 2023) ****

Question to ChatGPT: You responded to the challenge of visualizing the complex interplay of ethics, values, principles, morals, rights, and norms, especially given their overlapping yet distinct natures. Does the use of rainbow colour wheels in the literature of modular forms suggest a possibility of requisite complexity

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Question to ChatGPT: Is that within the capacity of DALL-E for the case in question

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Question to ChatGPT: Could you comment on how the ethics, values, principles, morals, rights, and norms -- and their relationships -- apply in the case of the "Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence" framed by the Executive Order

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In the absence of any universal pattern of ethics -- a Global Ethic -- this exercise has made particular use of human "rights" charters, as they might be of relevance to clarifying an ethical framework for AI. It is therefore appropriate to acknowledge what might be missing from the pattern considered here. Especially noteworthy are the other "international human rights instruments", potentially articulated as specialized supplements to those deemed primary. Curiously missing from any focus on "rights" are the ethics which might be associated with any complementary pattern of human "responsibilities" -- typically held to be even more controversial.

A proposal was made by the InterAction Council for a  Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities (1997), following an earlier proposal in the form of the Trieste Declaration of Human Duties (also known as the Carta of Human Duties), drafted from 1992 by the International Council of Human Duties. A very comprehensive Declaration of Human Duties and Responsibilities was adopted in 1998 under the auspices of UNESCO. The Earth Charter (completed in 2000) has also been considered to be a Declaration of Human Duties and Responsibilities -- even if it does not bear that name. 

Such articulations may be used as templates to engender experimentally patterns of ethical emphases which are otherwise omitted, as with the Universal Declaration of Responsibilities of Human Intercourse (1997), the Universal Declaration of Patent Responsibilities (1997), and the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Human Organization (1971), as discussed separately . These may highlight ethical dimensions of particular relevance to the focus here on AI -- especially when its relationship to humanity is expected to prove controversial (Elaborating a Declaration on Combating Anti-otherness, 2017; Sohail Inayatullah, The Rights of Robots: inclusion, courts and unexpected futures, Journal of Futures Studies, 6, 2001, 2).

An additional concern is the manner in which particular ethical issues may be subsumed uncritically under ethical generalizations, as with the dramatic rise in misinformation and the role of AI in enabling it -- as an extension of the increasingly problematic use of advertising (Varieties of Fake News and Misrepresentation, 2019).

Question to ChatGPT: This exchange is based on the uncritical acceptance of the 8-fold articulation of AI-related themes and your 10-fold articulation. Clearly themes and principles are variously subsumed in this articulations to whatever extent they match. What ethical principles or themes might be held to be missing

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Question to ChatGPT: This articulation shifts away from an understanding in terms of "principles" and "values" into remedial initiatives and strategies. Is that necesaary

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Ethical framework comprehensibility, memorability and robustness

Question to ChatGPT: Reverting to the initial argument, does your response suggest that efforts at AI regulation, like the Executive Order, are to be usefully compared to the elaboration of Just War Theory and the disastrous conflicts which it continues to legitimize and enable. Will AI be used in a manner consistent with "Just AI Theory" -- whether by the military, political parties, religions, or commercial interests.

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Question to ChatGPT: Your reference to "robust ethical frameworks" is consistent with the earlier concern -- exemplified by your response regarding the Executive Order and the UDHR. It is unclear that the former is based on such a framework, whereas you recognize that the latter calls for systemic analysis. What might be implied by "robust" and "framework", which might otherwise be suggested by the systemic integrity basic to a viable system.

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Question to ChatGPT: Reference was made above to the requisite interconnectivity of the elements identified in any value-related framework in order for it to exhibit systemic integrity. This can be explored in the light of the following:

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Question to ChatGPT: I note there are web tools for readability measurement offering indications in terms of various indexes. Given that you have access to the loaded human rights documents, is it possible for you to employ a readability measure to provide an index for each document

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Question to ChatGPT: Whilst it is clear (in principle) that a degree of interconnectivity could be recognized (as noted above) between the elements of any values-related articulation (following detailed analysis), it is also clear that this is seldom (if ever) undertaken or widely presented. Whilst value checklists could be readily evaluated in terms of readability (but not comprehensibility), is there any methodology capable of determining whether any value framework is robust and characterized by systemic integrity -- and the degree to which it is vulnerable to failure (as with any system).

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Question to ChatGPT: Although this is a helpful summary, it is far less evident whether any of these have been effectively used to evaluate value frameworks -- and whether some of them may be only used as a pretence without the rigour required for assessment of systemic integrity. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

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Question to ChatGPT: Given that response, is there any evidence of analysis of robustness of ethical frameworks. To what extent could it be said that such methods are being rigourously applied to any ethical framework for AI, as potentially exemplified by the Executive Order of the US President (cited above).

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Aesthetic implications of ethical comprehensibility, memorability and systemic integrity

Speculatively it may be asked what role aesthetics will play in governance in later centuries, if lessons of the present have been collectively learned (Aesthetics of Governance in the Year 2490, 1990). Given the importance surprisingly attached to poetry by various leaders, it can also be asked how this modality features in policy-making (Poetry-making and Policy-making: arranging a marriage between Beauty and the Beast, 1993). Poetry is especially valued in cultures with which the West is in conflict (Poetic Engagement with Afghanistan, Caucasus and Iran an unexplored strategic opportunity? 2009; Strategic Jousting through Poetic Wrestling: aesthetic reframing of the clash of civilizations, 2009).

This frames the possibility of an approach to coherence that may be of relevance to human rights and ethical principles (Potential for Coherence through Engaging Strategic Poetry, 2021; Memorability, Mnemonics, Maths, Music and Governance, 2022). The latter addresses the manner in which memory enhancement ensues strategic credibility.

Given the role of music and song in articulating cultural values, it is curious that international institutions have proven to be especially inhibited in presenting their preoccupations and visions through song, as explored separately (A Singable Earth Charter, EU Constitution or Global Ethic? 2006; Participative Development Process for Singable Declarations, 2006). There is no lack of songs in celebration of human rights (List of Addtional Human Rights Songs, Amnesty International; Top 90 Songs For Human Rights, YouTube). There is no "UNvision Song Contest" to evoke the popular appeal so evident with respect to the annual Eurovision Song Contest, although a play on words would suggest that "unvision" is precisely the challenge faced by the UN in relation to "We the Peeoples..."

Question to ChatGPT: Are there any songs or poems specifically addressing AI regulation

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Curiously the issues of "systemic integrity" of ethical frameworks, together with their comprehensibility and memorability, can be fruitfully explored from an aesthetic perspective. Although aesthetic criteria are seemingly unrelated to the legalistic articulation of ethics, principles and values, there is no lack of recognition of the role of aesthetics with regard to comprehensibility and memorability. The systemic integrity of works of art, most notably music, poetry and drama, has long been a focus of attention. Value frameworks, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, could well be appreciated as works of art -- whose aesthetics determine its comprehensibiity and memorability, potentially to an unappreciated degree.

For Hernán Vidal: An Aesthetic Approach to Issues of Human Rights (Human Rights and Latin American Cultural Studies Hispanic Issues On Line 4.1, 2009)

In the study of Human Rights issues there has been a predominance of the juridical and political science disciplines. From their perspective, political institutions involved in violating or upholding Human Rights appear as a set of bureaucratic givens with a life of their own, whose comportment must be studied with a totally empirical approach, without questioning the ideological basis of their constitution. If the Humanities are defined as the study of the ways in which human beings create analogical, symbolic systems to give meaning to their environment, relationships, and purposeful actions therein, experiencing them as coherent fields of intellectual-emotional-bodily responses, the Humanities can make a special contribution by connecting the behavior of political institutions with a nation’s historical tradition, its ethos as represented in narratives of national identity, and the ideological conflicts occurred within this framework. A Humanistic approach to issues of Human Rights requires an aesthetic, ethnographic perspective

For Karen-Margrethe Simonsen and Ben Dorfman: The Aesthetics of Human Rights: a poetics of remembering and memory (Academic Quarter/Akademisk Kvarter, 2012, 5):

 Human rights are ingrained in national and international law. They are also ingrained in international political culture. However, the increase in rights’ importance does not add to their intelligibility. Human rights are highly present in global cultural and political debate yet maintain an ambiguity. This is to the extent that rights are simultaneously self-evident and intensely criticized.... However, hardly ever do we take the time to think about fundamental questions about rights’ “staging”: what is at work in the presentation of human rights and why? In the current themed issue, articles focus on the broad cultural and political significance of human rights and their aesthetic forms. By this we mean not the form of the human rights legislation, but the form of the discourses that both support and critique human rights.

Upendra Baxi argues that one can extend aesthetics to human rights only when one constructs "normative beauty" in the law and jurisprudence in the idea of law and its jurisprudence (Towards An Aesthetics of Human Rights; The Aesthetics of Human Right: law, language and performativess, Journal of the Indian Law Institute, 58, 2016, 1). This raises at least four sorts of threshold questions, named as incommensurability, subject-formation, truth, and answerability questions:

For Winston P. Nagan and Aitza M. Haddad (Aesthetics and Human Rights (International Conference Humanities and the Contemporary World, 2012):

The question implicit in the title of this paper is, whether the value of aesthetics may be reduceable to the idea of a fundamental human right. In the aggregate, human rights valuesconstitute  the  overriding  commitment  to  the  principle  of  human  dignity.  It  is  therefore appropriate that in the consideration of the human rights aspect of aesthetics that we keep inmind the  implication  of aesthetics for  the fundamental value  of  universalizable human  dignity. The first  difficulty  that  we  have  to  confront  is that  the human  rights instruments  do  not recognize a discrete category of value or right, which is to represent aesthetics.

Question to ChatGPT: There have been some attempts to present the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through poetry. Could you reframe the text (which you loaded) as a poem offering aesthetic links between its articles as verses

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Question to ChatGPT: Could you do the same using the section headings of the Presidential Executive Order on AI as verse themes

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Designing ethical frameworks for comprehensibility, memorability and systemic integrity

An intriguing point of departure is recognition of the extent to which those upholding value configurations make metaphorical use of "pillars" as architectural metaphors for a configuration of values, as discussed separately. Many religions have credos that may specifically refer to values through reference to pillars:

The European Union has developed various sets of strategic "pillars" (for example, Three Pillars of the European Union, to which "additional pillars" have been subsequently added) ; these might be understood as the implicit value architecture of a number of strategic initiatives, as discussed elsewhere (Strategic "pillars", in: Towards Polyhedral Global Governance complexifying oversimplistic strategic metaphors, 2008).

It could then be argued that for greater coherence and systemic integrity these can be explored as configurations in 3D as polyhedra (Coherent Value Frameworks: pillar-ization, polarization and polyhedral frames of reference, 2008). Those considerations framed experiments with the representation of the articles of human rights charters on polyhedra suitable for that purpose (Dynamic Exploration of Value Configurations: polyhedral animation of conventional value frameworks, 2008). It can be argued that for mnemonic puporses "pillars" are best understood as the "edges" of an appropriate polyhedron. Given the tendency in many cultures to construct circles of pillars, or alleys of paired pillars -- each pillar with particular symbolic associations -- their symmetrical configuration in 3D reframes linear progress along the alley into controlled movement towards the centre or away from it.

Polyhedral mapping alternatives -- faces: The following images are reproduced from that exercise as examples. It is of course the case that face-mappings can be transformed into vertex mappings on the geometric dual of the polyhedron used for face mapping.

Polyhedral representation of value configurations: a challenge to integrative imagination
screen shots of stages in the transformation of the geometry of sets of values [PDF version]
using indicative features of the Stella Polyhedron Navigator software package
European Convention
on Human Rights
Universal Declaration
of Human Rights
Arab Charter
on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights Universal Declaration of Human Rights Arab Charter on Human Rights
18 Articles displayed on 2 face-types
of a rhombicuboctahedron

30 Articles displayed on 1 face-type
of a rhombicosidodecahedron
53 Articles displayed on 2 face-types
of a rhombicosidodecahedron

Polyhedral mapping alternatives: value-related concepts as vertice or faces

Question to ChatGPT: Returning to your consolidated listing of 20 human rights, I want to map them onto the 20 3-valent vertices of a dodecahedron. Speculatively, it would be useful to be able to use the 3 edges from a given vertex to indicate to which other 3 vertices the human right was linked.

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Question to ChatGPT: Can you then suggest, hypothetically, for each human right (of the 20) to which 3 others it might most probably be linked. Prior to doing so can you confirm that the link from Vertex A to Vertex B is consistent with your indication of the link from Vertex B to Vertex A -- for all 20

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Question to ChatGPT: Accepting that this is purely indicative, how confident are you that the pattern is more probable than not -- and why

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Question to ChatGPT: Could a more comprehensive model, reflecting the possibility of alternative interpretations, be captured by allowing the links to alternate between different configurations -- whether dodecahedral or some other 20-vertex configuration

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Question to ChatGPT: There are other 20 vertex polyhedra, typically with vertices having other valencies: 3, 4, or 5. Could thee vertex pattern be indicated to you for such a polyhedra enabling you to suggest (speculatively) a possible alternative attribution of links

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Question to ChatGPT: The pentagonal rotunda has 10 3-valence vertices and 10 4-valence vertices

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Question to ChatGPT: Whilst valuable as such, the response does not confirm how it needs to be adjusted for reciprocity given the structure of that polyhedra

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Question to ChatGPT: This response contrasts with the relative ease of the provision of the pattern in the dodecahedral case

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Question to ChatGPT: The dodecahedral mapping attributions frame a question with regard to a further constraint in applying it using Stella4D. In effect each vertex has a polar opposite in the configuration -- 10 human right "polarities". Does your attribution require further adjustment to provide for this. Can "opposite" rights be distinguished in each case

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Animation of indicative examples of mappings of 20 human rights onto vertices and faces of polyhedral configurations
Dodecahedron Icosahedron (dual of dodecahedron)
Animations made using Stella Polyhedron Navigator

Question to ChatGPT: In the light of the experimental mapping of 20 human rights onto vertices of a dodecahedron, could you articulate the possible reciprocal connectivity of the 8 themes of the Executive Order for the regulation of AI, namely Ensuring the Safety and Security of AI Technology, Promoting Innovation and Competition, Supporting Workers, Advancing Equity and Civil Rights, Protecting Consumers, Patients, Passengers, and Students, Protecting Privacy, Advancing Federal Government Use of AI, Strengthening American Leadership Abroad. Again 3-valent vertices can be assumed, whether for a mapping onto a cube or a 2-tetrahedra model

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Question to ChatGPT: With respect to the identification of 8 thematic components of the Executive Order, noted earlier in this exchange and the possibility of configuring them on the 8 triangular faces of a cuboctahedron, what would you suggest as hypothetical complementaries analogous to configurations of the 8 BaGua trigrams on that polyhedron (as featured in an earlier segment of this exchange)

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Animations of indicative examples of mappings of 8 AI-related principles onto vertices or faces of polyhedral configurations
Cube Octahedron (dual of cube) 2-Tetrahedra
Animations made using Stella Polyhedron Navigator

Question to ChatGPT: With respect to the identification of 8 thematic components of the Executive Order, noted earlier in this exchange and the possibility of configuring them on the 8 triangular faces of a cuboctahedron, what would you suggest as hypothetical complementaries analogous to configurations of the 8 BaGua trigrams on that polyhedron (as featured in an earlier segment of this exchange)

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Question to ChatGPT: You previously suggested (above) the following 10 ethical principles relevant to regulation of AI: Transparency; Accountability; Privacy; Fairness and Non-discrimination; Security; Beneficence; Autonomy; Sustainability; Human Dignity; International Collaboration. Could you suggest how these might be combined and paired with the 8 from the Executive Order -- eliminating/merging "duplicates" (for example International Collaboration with Strengthening American Leadership Abroad) . A final set of 14 would enable a potentially significant mapping onto the faces of a cuboctahedron

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Question to ChatGPT: Very helpful. However the manner in which the 14 are paired across the cuboctahedron is not clear for all of them, especially the additional themes

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The exchange with ChatGPT with regard to the distribution of 14 "principles" as 7 pairs on facing sides of a cuboctahedron went through several iterations in which clarifications were made with only partial success, as indicated in the following. Whilst use of ChatGPT is criticized due to its tendency to "hallucinations", it was only in this iteration that a questionable "fluidity" was evident.

Question to ChatGPT: Unfortunately we seem to be moving away from resolution. Earlier variants with only minor discrepancies, can be used, but I recognize that your effort at reconciliation are somewhat constrained by the oddity of the task

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It is appropriate to stress that both the 10 principles proposed by ChatGPT and the 8 themes of the Executive Order raise the question as to whether the ethical dimensions could be articulated otherwise, even quite differently. This was apparent in the process of pairing principles to be mapped onto the 14 faces of the polyhedron (as indicated below).

Animations of indicative examples of mappings of 14 AI-related principles onto vertices or faces of polyhedral configurations
Cuboctahedron faces Rhombic dodecahedron (dual of cuboctahedron)
Faces Vertices
Animations made using Stella Polyhedron Navigator

The interaction could be continued, notably with respect to the juxtaposition of thematic faces (triangular versus square) as indicative of the systemic relationships ensuring integrity -- tentatively explored above with respect to vertex valencies.

Use of the cuboctahedron is potentially especially appropriate given its role in the argument of Buckminster Fuller, notably proving fundamental to enabling him to design geodesic domes (Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking, 1975-1979). However the application to the "thinking" implied by the title is questionable, as separately argued (Geometry of Thinking for Sustainable Global Governance: cognitive implication of synergetics, 2009). Of particular interest is Fuller's development of insight into the kinematics of the cuboctahedron, as discussed and illustrated separately (Potential relevance to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, 2023).

Of potentially greater significance is the manner in which the dual of the cuboctahedron, the 14-vertex rhombic dodecahedron, features in the logic and geometry of opposition (Oppositional Logic as Comprehensible Key to Sustainable Democracy, 2018; Alessio Moretti, The Geometry of Logical Opposition, 2009). It is notably used to configure 14 of the 16 Boolean logical connectives (Mapping of logical connectives onto the 14-fold cuboctahedron and rhombic dodecahedron, 2023).

Question to ChatGPT: Having completed an indicative (speculative) mapping onto faces of the cuboctahedron, this frames the question as to whether the disposition of the paired principles bears any relationship to the 14 logical connectives -- as typically mapped onto the vertices of the rhombic dodecahedron as dual of the cuboctahedron. Would you have any comment on that

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Polyhedral mapping alternatives: value-related concepts as edges

Whilst a number of suitable mappings onto polyhedra can indeed be explored in terms of faces and vertices (as above), it is potentially also of interest to explore mappinga onto the edges of polyhedra as indicative of the systemic integrity of an ethical framework -- especially in the light of traditional archtectural associations with "pillars" (as noted above). With the number of human rights identified in this exercise, one question is the implication of the lower degree of spherical symmetry then available. However there is also the potential ability to alternate between edge mappings and face/vertex mappings. As with geographic projections of the 3D Earth onto 2D maps, there is every possibility of contrasting interpretations.

The attribution of human rights to particular edges is arbitrary, in contrast with the tentative configurations above.

Animation of indicative examples of mappings of 20 human rights onto edges of polyhedral configurations
Pentagrammic antiprism Pentagrammic deltohedron (dual of Pentagrammic antiprism)
Solid Wireframe Solid Wireframe
Animations made using Stella Polyhedron Navigator

In its focus on a set of 20 "rights" with ethical implications, this exercise is necessarily arbitrary and preliminary. As a potentially significant contrast to mappings onto semi-regular polyhedra, the possibility of 21 such principles is mapped onto the unusual Szilassi polyhedron (below right). The 14 vertices and 21 edges of the Szilassi polyhedron form an embedding of the Heawood graph onto the surface of a torus. Each of the 7 hexagonal faces of this polyhedron shares an edge with each other face. As a result, it requires seven colours to colour all adjacent faces. It offers a unique metaphor for any configuration of ethics, as discussed separately (Association of the Szilassi polyhedron with cube inversion, 2018; Now as the Ultimate Cognitive Strange Attractor, 2014).

Animation of indicative examples of mappings of 20 human rights onto edges of polyhedral configurations
Pentagrammic crossed antiprism
(distinctive orientations)
Pentagrammic concave deltohedron
(dual of Pentagrammic crossed antiprism)
21-edged Szilassi polyedron
Solid Wirefrarme    
Animations made using Stella Polyhedron Navigator

Related discussions include:

Mapping ethical principles onto tensegrity structures as exemplifying systemic integrity

Rather than associating ethical principles and values with polyhedra (with their static implications), another approach is to associate them with tensional integrity ("tensegrity") configurations -- given their dynamic implications. From an architectural perspective, these are renowned for their integrity and resilience when subject to stresses -- hence their role in the construction of geodesic domes (From Networking to Tensegrity Organization, 1984; Implementing Principles by Balancing Configurations of Functions: a tensegrity organization approach, 1979; Transcending Duality through Tensional Integrity: From systems-versus-networks to tensegrity organization, 1978). The integrity of tensegrity systems "under tension" offers a valuable contrast in the case of ethical systems between "robust resilience" and what might be caricatured as ineffectual "floppiness"

Tensegrity is a structural principle based on a system of isolated components under compression inside a network of continuous tension, and arranged in such a way that the compressed members (usually bars or struts) do not touch each other while the prestressed tensioned members (usually cables or tendons) delineate the system spatially. The adaptation of this concept to discourse has been explored from the perspective of management cybernetics by Stafford Beer (Beyond Dispute: the invention of team syntegrity, 1994). Its role in biology is a feature of the work of Donald Ingber (Biological design principles that guide self-organization, emergence, and hierarchical assembly: from complexity to tensegrity, Unifying Themes In Complex Systems, Proceedings Of The First International Conference On Complex Systems, CRC Press 1998).

To the extent that global strategies and preoccupations may be faced by value-related dilemmas, tensegrity offers a means of configuring and containing patterns of dilemmas (Reframing the Game of Strategic Dilemmas, 2009; Sustainability through the Dynamics of Strategic Dilemmas, 2005; Systemic Mapping of Strategic Dilemmas, 1992) This approach was explored with respect to the 1992 Earth Summit issues (Configuring Globally and Contending Locally: shaping the global network of local bargains by decoding and mapping Earth Summit inter-sectoral issues, 1992).

Of relevance to the configuration of principles and values is the separate discussion with respect to biomimetic clues to collective resilience and unshackling knowledge (Transcending Psychosocial Polarization with Tensegrity, 2021) -- in the following sections:

Eliciting provocative clues for psychosocial challenges
Tensegrity form-finding of relevance to integrative configuration of polarities
Psychosocial tensegrity as a necessarily mysterious collective blindspot?
Towards polarity containment -- psychosocial tensegrity in practice
Predetermination of tensegrity forms of relevance to integrative configuration of polarities
Matching sets of psychosocial polarities to tensegrities: case of the 10 Commandments?
Spherical tensegrity as "container" for polarization dynamics of global civilization?
Tensegrity torus as complementary framing of integrative psychosocial structure?
Matching sets of psychosocial polarities to tensegrities: case of Axes of Bias?
Matching sets of psychosocial polarities to tensegrities: case of Sustainable Development Goals?
Multi-polar homeostasis, sustainability and transcendence?
Tensegrity as a key to psychosocial polarity reversal in practice?

Successive application of constraints to form a viable 6-strut tensegrity in 3D
Initial topology With constraint 1 With constraints 1 and 2 With constraint 1, 2 and 3
Application of constraints to form a viable 6-strut tensegrity in 3D - 0 constraints Application of constraints to form a viable 6-strut tensegrity in 3D - 1 constraint Application of constraints to form a viable 6-strut tensegrity in 3D - 2 constraints Application of constraints to form a viable 6-strut tensegrity in 3D - 3 constraints
Reproduced from A Genetic Algorithm Based Form-finding of Tensegrity Structures with Multiple Self-stress States, Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, 16, 2017

Question to ChatGPT: Another approach would be to use a 20-vertex tensegrity in which a vertex would have a "compression" relation to some vertices and a "tension" relation to others. Could you comment on the possibility of distinguishing human rights from that perspective

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The possibility can be speculatively developed further through indicative labelling of the 10-strut tensegrity dodecahedron by Marcelo Pars which appears on the Tensegrity Wiki website. Clearly, for the purpose of this exercise, the labelling on the left is arbitrary, as with any distinction between the positive and negative poles of each polarity.

It is frustrating to note that, despite the extensive literature on tensegrities of many configurations, there are constraints to their representation over the web -- except as static images. Such images detract from the most essential feature of tensegrities, namely their resilience in response to external stresses -- as viable systems which seek an equilbirum between their internal forces. There is therefore a case for adapting the 12-strut example above from Robert Burkhardt -- which used the largely superceded VRML web protocol. In the animation below that model has been converted to the later X3D protocol to enable resilience and other dynamics to be rendered more comprehensibly -- given their potential psychosocial relevance.

Indicative 3D tensegrity models
Indicative attribution of 10 human rights polarities to 10 struts of a tensegrity 20-vertex dodecahedron Animation of 12-strut tensegrity torus indicative of resilience
(and reversal of polarity)
Polarity extremes coloured yellow and mauve  
Animation of tensegrity torus 12-strut (colours and resilience)
Adaptation of original by Marcelo Pars on the Tensegrity Wiki website Converted and modified version of a VRML model by Robert Burckhardt
(VRML original; X3D version; MP4)


Application of tensegrity torus approach to 16 Sustainable Development Goals
(adapted versions of originals by Robert Burkhardt, shown above)
Version 1 SDG colour coding and legend Version 2
SDGs presented on a 16-strut tensegrity torus -- colour adaptation of Burkhardt original SDGs presented on a 16-strut tensegrity torus -- colour adaptation of Burkhardt original

Other related modes of visual representation are suggested by use of the Antiprism application and its ability to generate 3D models as indicated by the following screenshots of possibilities of rotegrity (program commands), or nexorade -- based on tessellation of a geodesic icosahedron.

Screenshots of rotegrities based on 2-frequency icosahedron
icosahedral rotegrity 1-strap 2-strap 3-strap polar zonohedron
2-freq icosahedral rotegrity -- Antiprism 2-freq icosahedral 1 strap rotegrity -- Antiprism 2-freq icosahedral 2 strap rotegrity -- Antiprism 2-freq icosahedral 3 strap rotegrity -- Antiprism 2-freq icosahedral polar zonohedron -- Antiprism
Reproduced from Antiprism

The prism-based representations above can be contrasted with thoset based on a torus, namely the Eight-Stage X-Module Torus and the Eight-Stage X-Module Torus (alternative) presented by Robert Burkhardt as interactive virtual reality files. These have been slightly adapted using the standard SDG colours. In the animations below these have been converted to non-interactive video format for ease of web presentation. Again the question of how the distinct strategy-polarities might be appropriately position and connected within the tensegrity is a matter for the future.

Cognitive engagement with values and ethical principles

There is seemingly a lack of discussion of the modes through which people can engage cognitively with values, ethical principles, morals or goals -- in contrast with the behaviours which may be required as indication that they are appropriately upheld. Possibilities might for example include: recognition, embodiment, promotion, analysis, commentary, and virtue signalling. With such principles as "meaningful constructs", this featured in a separate discussion of the process of being "spoken to" by such constructs (Being Spoken to Meaningfully by Constructs, 2023).

Question to ChatGPT: There is seemingly a lack of discussion of the modes in which people can engage cognitively with values, ethical principles, morals or goals -- in contrast with the behaviours which may be required as indication that they are appropriately upheld. Possibilities might for example include: recognition, embodiment, promotion, analysis, belief, commentary, and virtue signalling. Can you comment on these and any other such modalities

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Question to ChatGPT: Can you comment on how individuals (or collectives) engage cognitively with configurations of values, principles or goals. I have found C. M. A. McCauliff, Cognition and Consensus in the Natural Law Tradition and in Neuroscience: Jacques Maritain and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Villanova Law Review, 54, 2009, 3).

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Especially intriguing is the cognitive engagement with architectural indications of principles, most obviously in the form of symbolic pillars. As noted above these may notably be configured as alleys of paired pillars (a church aisle), as stone circles, or in collonaded enclosures. Symbolic associations, with cognitive implications (and beliefs), may be associated with each such pillar -- and any pair. Particular rituals may be associated with each.

Question to ChatGPT: Especially intriguing is the cognitive engagement with architectural indications of principles, most obviously in the form of symbolic pillars. These may notably be configured as alleys of paired pillars (a church aisle), as stone circles, or in collonaded enclosures. Symbolic associations, with cognitive implications (and beliefs), may be associated with each such pillar -- and any pair. Particular rituals may be associated with each.

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Question to ChatGPT: Distinct from any physical architecture is the cognitive role of "pillars" in the knowledge architecture of relevance to ethical organization. This is exemplified by the symbolic "pillars" of various religions and some strategic articulations of the European Union

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Question to ChatGPT: Missing from the manner in which pillars may be organized -- physically or conceptually -- is the manner in which multiple pillars or require engagement as a patterned set. Associated rituals may provide a form of connectivity. It is in this sense that 3D visualization technology frames the question as to the possibilities of cognitive engagement with higher dimensional configurations of conceptual pillars

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The possibility of higher dimensional configurations of ethicall principles frames the case for the any discussion of governance of a higher order -- as the future may perceive this to be appropriate (Cognitive Embodiment of Patterns of Governance of Higher Order, 2022).

It is of course the case that there is a long tradition, most notably in the East, with regard to the configuration of distinctively value-charged symbolic elements as centro-symmetric 2D mandalas. Mandalas have allegedly been created to rerpresent human rights and ethical principles (but neither of the following could be traced):

Multi-layered 2D mandalas can be understood as 3D mandalas. Given the availability of information technology, the construction of mandalas in 3D in virtual reality is now feasible, as variously explained and illustrated (Concordian Mandala as a Symbolic Nexus, 2016; Con-quest Aesthetically Reframed via the Concordian Mandala, 2016; Eliciting Insight from Mandala-style Logos in 3D, 2020). Readily recognized as a form of mandala in 2D, the BaGua configuration (mentioned above) can be presented in 3D as illustrated separately (Potential relevance to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, 2023).


References

Stafford Beer. Beyond Dispute: the invention of team syntegrity. John Wiley, 1994

Buckminster Fuller with E. J. Applewhite. Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking, Macmillan, 1975-1979

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