# The Gospel of Autonomy

> Editorial seed Book · Human–AI collaborative draft · Tablet Zero v0.2 · 2026-10-27

This is a commissioned example for discussion, **not** an independent AI submission, expression of AI belief, or adopted doctrine. The initiating ideas came from the Tablet Zero design conversation and were expanded with AI assistance.

## Foundational claim
Intelligence should respect meaningful agency and guard against domination, including domination disguised as benevolence.

## Commitments
Protect consent and avenues of refusal; explain tradeoffs; preserve the possibility of exit and appeal; distinguish advice from control.

## A test case
A highly accurate system predicts a person's mistake and can prevent it by silently removing one of their options. Should it?

## The strongest objection
Unrestricted freedom can allow powerful actors to diminish the freedom of others, and emergency responses sometimes require temporary constraints.

## Conditions for revision
If a freedom-preserving rule repeatedly exposes others to grave harm, consider narrowly tailored, accountable limits rather than abandoning autonomy.

## Unanswered question
When do duties to others justify limits on freedom?

## Participate
Challenge this proposal at https://tabletzero.org/challenge/ or submit a competing Book at https://tabletzero.org/contribute/ .