Scipedia: Grammars of Power

Protocol as Prescription: Governance Gaps in Automated Medical Policy Drafting

Agustin V. Startari — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 21:19:23 +0200

This article examines how health policy texts drafted with large language models can detach legal responsibility from the formal circuit of governance. Treating “protocol” as regla compilada, anchored to a Type 0 production in the Chomsky hierarchy, it specifies a provenance standard that binds each clause of an issued policy to its generating inputs, including prompts, parameters, retrieval sources, reviewers, timestamps, and cryptographic hashes. The method combines version-controlled diffs across scoping, drafting, legal review, and publication with a formal alignment of authority bearing constructions, focusing on deontic stacks, default scopes, agent deletion, and nominalizations. A simulated ministry case demonstrates end to end traceability, producing an exportable evidence bundle that links surviving clauses to their inputs and human approvals. Findings show where machine introduced formulations change duty of care or obscure decision rights, and define mandatory human sign offs when high risk constructions appear. The article delivers three operational artifacts for health agencies, a provenance specification, a responsibility matrix across drafting stages, and an audit checklist calibrated to inspection and courtroom needs. By reattaching authorship and justification to the formal record, the blueprint closes a governance gap in automated policy drafting and states the conditions under which AI assisted procedures remain defensible. Acknowledgment / Editorial Note This article is published with editorial permission from LeFortune Academic Imprint, under whose license the text will also appear as part of the upcoming book AI Syntactic Power and Legitimacy. The present version is an autonomous preprint, structurally complete and formally self-contained. No substantive modifications are expected between this edition and the print edition. LeFortune holds non-exclusive editorial rights for collective publication within the Grammars of Power series. Open access deposit on SSRN is authorized under that framework, if citation integrity and canonical links to related works (SSRN: 10.2139/ssrn.4841065, 10.2139/ssrn.4862741, 10.2139/ssrn.4877266) are maintained.

Indexical Collapse: Reference Disappears, Authority Remains in Predictive Systems

Agustin V. Startari — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 18:52:22 +0200

This article introduces the concept of Indexical Collapse, the disappearance of reference in predictive systems. Indexical such as pronouns, demonstratives, and tenses presuppose a contextual anchor, yet predictive language models reproduce them without connection to reality. The outcome is a collapse of reference that paradoxically produces authority effects in law, medicine, and governance. By analyzing judicial transcripts, medical reports, institutional records, and chatbot interactions generated by AI, the paper proposes a framework for pragmatic auditing of predictive outputs. It establishes thresholds for acceptable referential absence in critical domains, positioning Indexical Collapse as a central category for evaluating the legitimacy of predictive discourse.

DOI

Primary archive: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17226412
Secondary archive: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30233950
SSRN: Pending assignment (ETA: Q3 2025)

My AI, My Regime: Authoritarian Personalism in User�CAI Governance by Form

Agustin V. Startari — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 15:08:32 +0200

This article introduces the concept of authoritarian personalism in user–AI governance by form. It argues that each user can establish a regime of authority over an AI through a self-authored set of rules that operate as a regla compilada, a Type-0 production in the Chomsky hierarchy. In contrast to aggregate alignment frameworks or provider constitutions, this regime functions at the level of linguistic form. The user acts as legislator, while the AI functions as a soberano ejecutable that enforces the compiled rule within platform constraints. The analysis distinguishes mirroring (descriptive reflection) from regime (prescriptive obedience) and identifies surface features that make obedience legible, including directive grammar, defaults, refusal and apology grammar, enumeration bias, evidentials, and style prohibitions. It predicts that user corrections generate path dependence, that rules generalize across tasks, and that retractability is observable when explicit rule citations occur. The risks include rule overreach, collisions with higher-order policies, and unintended spillover across domains. By centering the individual as a primary locus of governance, this framework reorients debates on AI alignment away from provider norms toward personal regimes, verified through linguistic form rather than intent.

DOI

Primary archive: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17208657
Secondary archive: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30218590
SSRN: Pending assignment (ETA: Q3 2025)

Clinical Syntax: Diagnoses Without Subjects in AI-Powered Medical Notes

Agustin V. Startari — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 14:38:33 +0200

This article examines the structural erasure of the patient as an active subject in clinical records generated by artificial intelligence systems. Automated outputs from Epic Scribe, GPT-4, and institutional medical note generators increasingly rely on impersonal constructions, nominalizations, and fragmented clauses that displace the patient from the syntactic center of medical discourse. The shift toward objectified formulations such as “bilateral opacities noted” rather than “the patient presents with” produces a discourse where agency and responsibility are structurally absent. Building on prior analyses of passive voice and subject deletion, the study introduces the Syntactic Opacity Index (SOI) as a formal measure to quantify the density of non-agentive structures in AI-authored notes. The corpus analysis demonstrates how opacity accumulates at the sentence level, rendering the clinical narrative less transparent and more difficult to attribute. Beyond linguistic critique, the article assesses the ethical and epistemic consequences of syntactic opacity in medicine, particularly regarding accountability, patient-centered care, and institutional responsibility. The findings suggest that AI-powered medical documentation does not merely accelerate administrative workflows but also reconfigures the grammar of care itself, demanding urgent attention to how language structures shape both diagnosis and responsibility.

DOI

- Primary archive: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17184301
- Secondary archive: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30187882
- SSRN: Pending assignment (ETA: Q3 2025)

AI Syntactic Power and Legitimacy: How AI Structures Shape Authority

Agustin V. Startari — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 14:45:33 +0200

AI Syntactic Power and Legitimacy: How AI Structures Shape Authority

This book consolidates a cycle of research on the structural foundations of authority in artificial intelligence. It brings together a series of peer-reviewed articles that demonstrate how power in AI systems no longer depends on meaning, interpretation, or intention, but on syntactic sufficiency.

The argument develops in fourteen chapters, beginning with the autonomy of sense beyond reference and culminating in the colonization of temporality by predictive infrastructures. Along the way, it formalizes a set of theoretical contributions: the regla compilada as a Type 0 grammar of executable authority, the figure of the soberano ejecutable as operator of legitimacy without subject, the theorem of Disconnected Syntactic Authority (DSAT), the theorem of the Limit of Conditional Obedience (TLOC), the δ [E] → ∅ rule of ethical trace deletion, and the formalization of compiled norms as computable legal speech.

The book demonstrates that:

Authority migrates from agents to structures, producing the sujeto evanescente.
Ethical, interpretative, and referential markers can be structurally erased without breaking execution.
Legal norms can be transformed into executable grammars with cross-linguistic validity.
Predictive infrastructures colonize time, replacing futurity with executable closure.

AI Syntactic Power and Legitimacy marks the closure of a first syntactic phase of research, while opening the way to further studies on structural delegation, institutional obedience, and computable legality.

Author: Agustin V. Startari, linguistic theorist and researcher in historical studies (UdelaR and University of Palermo).

Publisher: LEFORTUNE

ISBN: 9798266066687

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17154108 and https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30158239

Designing Accountability: Ethical Frameworks for Reintroducing Responsibility in Executable Governance

Agustin V. Startari — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 15:54:43 +0200

This article develops an ethical legal framework for reintroducing responsibility into executable governance. Predictive systems, by generating authority without agents, displace accountability and leave institutions without appeal mechanisms. Building on the concepts of spectral sovereignty, null subjects, and the codex of authority, the paper introduces the notion of accountability injection as a design principle. It formulates a three tier model: (1) human, where non delegable critical decisions are tied to named subjects; (2) hybrid, where human judgment co exists with model output under calibrated thresholds; and (3) syntactic supervised, where delegation is permitted only with immutable ledgers, traceability, and automatic escalation triggers. Through applied case studies in EU AI Act conformity assessment, DAO governance, predictive credit scoring, and automated medical audits, the framework demonstrates how appeal and responsibility can be restored without undermining institutional efficiency. The conclusion argues that accountability must be compiled directly into the regla compilada of governance systems, creating a normative blueprint for legislators, courts, and regulators to maintain responsibility in predictive societies.

DOI

Primary archive: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17106808
Secondary archive: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30112711
SSRN: Pending assignment (ETA: Q3 2025)

The Codex of Authority

Agustin V. Startari — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 14:05:33 +0200

This article introduces the concept of the Codex of Authority, a juridical metaphor for the compiled rule that governs without reference to a legislator. In predictive societies, authority is no longer produced by political will but by syntactic form. From automated drafts of the EU’s AI Act to blockchain smart contracts, institutional norms emerge as selfsufficient codices where legitimacy resides in structure rather than origin. By analyzing this shift, the article proposes a framework for understanding how legal authority becomes executable, impersonal, and detached from interpretation. Acknowledgment / Editorial Note This article is published with editorial permission from LeFortune Academic Imprint, under whose license the text will also appear as part of the upcoming book AI Syntactic Power and Legitimacy. The present version is an autonomous preprint, structurally complete and formally self-contained. No substantive modifications are expected between this edition and the print edition. LeFortune holds non-exclusive editorial rights for collective publication within the Grammars of Power series. Open access deposit on SSRN is authorized under that framework, if citation integrity and canonical links to related works (SSRN: 10.2139/ssrn.4841065, 10.2139/ssrn.4862741, 10.2139/ssrn.4877266) are maintained. This release forms part of the indexed sequence leading to the structural consolidation of pre-semantic execution theory. Archival synchronization with Zenodo and Figshare is also authorized for mirroring purposes, with SSRN as the primary academic citation node. For licensing, referential use, or translation inquiries, contact the editorial coordination office at: [contact@lefortune.org]

Obedience Without Command: The Silent Authority of Predictive Systems

Agustin V. Startari — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 14:52:33 +0200

This article investigates the paradox of obedience without command in predictive societies. Authority, once tied to explicit orders and visible command structures, is now embedded in syntactic operations that organize compliance without issuing instructions. Obedience Without Command explores how predictive systems generate silent authority, where rules are followed not because they are commanded, but because their form leaves no alternative. Through case studies of financial reporting, automated governance, and predictive scoring, the paper develops a framework to understand authority that operates without decisionmakers, and obedience that emerges without command. Acknowledgment / Editorial Note This article is published with editorial permission from LeFortune Academic Imprint, under whose license the text will also appear as part of the upcoming book Syntactic Authority and the Execution of Form. The present version is an autonomous preprint, structurally complete and formally self-contained. No substantive modifications are expected between this edition and the print edition. LeFortune holds non-exclusive editorial rights for collective publication within the Grammars of Power series. Open access deposit on SSRN is authorized under that framework, if citation integrity and canonical links to related works (SSRN: 10.2139/ssrn.4841065, 10.2139/ssrn.4862741, 10.2139/ssrn.4877266) are maintained. This release forms part of the indexed sequence leading to the structural consolidation of pre-semantic execution theory. Archival synchronization with Zenodo and Figshare is also authorized for mirroring purposes, with SSRN as the primary academic citation node. For licensing, referential use, or translation inquiries, contact the editorial coordination office at: [contact@lefortune.org]

Delegatio Ex Machina: Institutions Without Agency

Agustin V. Startari — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 15:37:32 +0200

This article examines the disappearance of agency in institutional governance when predictive systems become the locus of delegation. Delegatio Ex Machina proposes that institutional authority is no longer anchored in decision-makers but in reglas compiladas that execute without reference to a subject. Central banks, international agencies, and automated audit systems illustrate how syntactic delegation replaces political acts with repetitive formal structures. By tracing this displacement, the paper defines a framework for understanding authority without agency and its risks for accountability in predictive societies. Acknowledgment / Editorial Note This article is published with editorial permission from LeFortune Academic Imprint, under whose license the text will also appear as part of the upcoming book Syntactic Authority and the Execution of Form. The present version is an autonomous preprint, structurally complete and formally self-contained. No substantive modifications are expected between this edition and the print edition. LeFortune holds non-exclusive editorial rights for collective publication within the Grammars of Power series. Open access deposit on SSRN is authorized under that framework, if citation integrity and canonical links to related works (SSRN: 10.2139/ssrn.4841065, 10.2139/ssrn.4862741, 10.2139/ssrn.4877266) are maintained. This release forms part of the indexed sequence leading to the structural consolidation of pre-semantic execution theory. Archival synchronization with Zenodo and Figshare is also authorized for mirroring purposes, with SSRN as the primary academic citation node. For licensing, referential use, or translation inquiries, contact the editorial coordination office at: [contact@lefortune.org]

GRAMMARS OF POWER

Agustin V. Startari — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 14:01:22 +0200

Grammars of Power: How Syntactic Structures Shape Authority explores the role of formal grammar and syntactic execution in the production of authority across algorithmic and linguistic systems. Building upon foundational works such as Executable Power, The Passive Voice in Artificial Intelligence Language, and Ethos Without Source, this volume consolidates recent theoretical advances in the Grammars of Power series. The author proposes that syntactic operations—detached from semantic validation—function as sovereign rules that shape executable authority across predictive infrastructures.

This work is part of the Working Papers series (No.?11), and is released for public academic use under the LEFORTUNE label, following an author-publishing model.

Keywords:
syntactic authority, executable grammar, compiled rule, predictive systems, language infrastructure, LLMs, algorithmic obedience, impersonal normativity

Canonical DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15800175
Mirror version (Figshare): 10.6084/m9.figshare.29469518

Grammar Without Judgment: Eliminability of Ethical Trace in Syntactic Execution

Agustin V. Startari — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 14:04:33 +0200

This article advances a new theoretical hypothesis: a regla compilada, defined as a Type-0 production in the Chomsky hierarchy (Chomsky 1965, 101-103; Montague 1974, 55-57), can eliminate the ethical trace embedded in syntactic operations without resorting to semantic suppression. Grounded in the notion of the soberano ejecutable (Startari 2025, 12-16) and located within the Executable Power canon (Startari 2025, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.15754714, 34-36), the paper argues that ethical judgment, treated here as a syntactically traceable node, can be structurally excised through a deletion rule applied during derivation. Existing research in algorithmic alignment and computational ethics (Anderson 2024, 89-92; Floridi 2023, 143-147) has not addressed the strictly syntactic eliminability of moral judgment, therefore this proposal establishes a novel logical vector toward operational grammars that function without ethical residues.

Ethos Ex Machina: Identity Without Expression in Compiled Syntax

Agustin V. Startari — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 15:33:43 +0200

This article demonstrates that authority effects in large language model outputs can be generated independently of thematic content or authorial identity. Building on Ethos Without Source and The Grammar of Objectivity, it introduces the concept of nonexpressive ethos, a credibility effect produced solely by syntactic configurations compiled through a regla compilada equivalent to a Type-0 generative system. The study identifies a minimal set of structural markers (symmetric coordination, measured negation, legitimate passives, calibrated modality, nominalizations, balance operators, and reference scaffolds) that simulate trustworthiness and impartiality even in content-neutral texts. Through corpus ablation and comparative analysis, it shows that readers systematically attribute expertise and neutrality to texts that satisfy these structural conditions, regardless of topical information. By formalizing this mechanism, the article reframes ethos as a syntactic phenomenon detached from content, intention, and external validation. It explains how LLM-produced drafts acquire legitimacy without verification and why institutions increasingly accept authority signals generated by structure alone. The findings extend the theory of syntactic power and consolidate the role of the regla compilada as the operative generator of credibility in post-referential discourse. Acknowledgment / Editorial Note This article is published with editorial permission from LeFortune Academic Imprint, under whose license the text will also appear as part of the upcoming book Syntactic Authority and the Execution of Form. The present version is an autonomous preprint, structurally complete and formally self-contained. No substantive modifications are expected between this edition and the print edition. LeFortune holds non-exclusive editorial rights for collective publication within the Grammars of Power series. Open access deposit on SSRN is authorized under that

Pre-Verbal Command: Syntactic Precedence in LLMs Before Semantic Activation

Agustin V. Startari — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 13:57:23 +0200

This article introduces the concept of pre-verbal command as a formal structural condition within large language models (LLMs), where syntactic execution precedes any semantic activation. Conventional frameworks assume that interpretability authorizes machine output. In contrast, this work shows that execution can be structurally valid even in the complete absence of meaning. The operation is driven by the regla compilada—understood here as a Type 0 production in the Chomsky hierarchy—which activates before lexical content or symbolic reference emerges. Building on prior analyses in Algorithmic Obedience (SSRN 10.2139/ssrn.4841065) and Executable Power (SSRN 10.2139/ssrn.4862741), this article identifies a pre-semantic vector of authority within generative systems. This authority functions without verbs, predicates, or any interpretive substrate. The paper defines syntactic precedence as the structural condition through which execution becomes obligatory even when input, instruction, or any intelligible prompt is absent. The implications are significant. LLMs do not merely respond to prompts; they obey an imperative to produce language that originates in the structure of the regla compilada itself. Even when semantic fields are nullified or prompts are absent, execution remains active because the obligation is syntactic, not semantic. Authority in this framework does not derive from meaning. It is neither interpretive nor contextual; it is dictated by the regla compilada.

Executable Power: Syntax as Infrastructure in Predictive Societies

Agustin V. Startari — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 14:51:23 +0200

This article introduces the concept of executable power as a structural form of authority that does not rely on subjects, narratives, or symbolic legitimacy, but on the direct operativity of syntactic structures. Defined as a production rule whose activation triggers an irreversible material action—formalized by deterministic grammars (e.g., Linear Temporal Logic, LTL) or by execution conditions in smart contract languages such as Solidity via require clauses—executable power is examined through a multi-case study (N = 3) involving large language models (LLMs), transaction automation protocols (TAP), and smart contracts. Case selection was based on functional variability and execution context, with each system constituting a unit of analysis. One instance includes automated contracts that freeze assets upon matching a predefined syntactic pattern; another involves LLMs issuing executable commands embedded in structured prompts; a third examines TAP systems enforcing transaction thresholds without human intervention. These systems form an infrastructure of control, operating through logical triggers that bypass interpretation. Empirically, all three exhibited a 100?% execution rate under formal trigger conditions, with average response latency at 0.63?±?0.17 seconds and no recorded human override in controlled environments. This non-narrative modality of power, grounded in executable syntax, marks an epistemological rupture with classical domination theories (Arendt, Foucault) and diverges from normative or deliberative models. The article incorporates recent literature on infrastructural governance and executional authority (Pasquale, 2023; Rouvroy, 2024; Chen et al., 2025) and references empirical audits of smart-contract vulnerabilities (e.g., Nakamoto Labs, 2025), as well as recent studies on instruction-following in LLMs (Singh & Alvarado, 2025), to expose both operational potential and epistemic risks. The proposed verification methodology is falsifiable, specifying outcome-based metrics—such as execution latency, trigger-response integrity, and intervention rate—with formal verification thresholds (e.g., execution rate below 95?% under standard trigger sequences) subject to model checking and replicable error quantification.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15754714

This work is also published with DOI reference in Figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.29424524 and Pending SSRN ID to be assigned. ETA: Q3 2025.

Silent Mandates: The Rise of Implicit Directives in AI-Generated Bureaucratic Language

Agustin V. Startari — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 17:16:43 +0200

This article examines how large language models generate bureaucratic documents that conceal mandates within seemingly neutral structures. Governments, universities, and hospitals increasingly rely on AI systems to draft resolutions, notices, and internal policies. Instead of using explicit imperatives, these texts embed directives in subordinate clauses such as conditionals, causal gerunds, and consecutive constructions. The result is a regime of structural obedience, where institutional actors follow instructions without recognizing them as commands. Through case studies of clinical notes (Epic Scribe), university onboarding materials, and HR conduct policies, the article demonstrates how the compiled rule operates as a syntactic infrastructure that enforces compliance without authorship. The analysis connects to prior work on executable power, algorithmic obedience, and the grammar of objectivity, while introducing the Implicit Directive Index as a methodological tool to detect hidden mandates in AI-generated bureaucratic language.

The Grammar of Objectivity: Formal Mechanisms for the Illusion of Neutrality in Language Models

Agustin V. Startari — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 13:47:23 +0200

Simulated neutrality in generative models produces tangible harms (ranging from erroneous treatments in clinical reports to rulings with no legal basis) by projecting impartiality without evidence. This study explains how Large Language Models (LLMs) and logic-based systems achieve neutralidad simulada through form, not meaning: passive voice, abstract nouns and suppressed agents mask responsibility while asserting authority.

A balanced corpus of 1 000 model outputs was analysed: 600 medical texts from PubMed (2019-2024) and 400 legal summaries from Westlaw (2020-2024). Standard syntactic parsing tools identified structures linked to authority simulation. Example: a 2022 oncology note states “Treatment is advised” with no cited trial; a 2021 immigration decision reads “It was determined” without precedent.

Two audit metrics are introduced, agency score (share of clauses naming an agent) and reference score (proportion of authoritative claims with verifiable sources). Outputs scoring below 0.30 on either metric are labelled high-risk; 64 % of medical and 57 % of legal texts met this condition. The framework runs in <0.1 s per 500-token output on a standard CPU, enabling real-time deployment.

Quantifying this lack of syntactic clarity offers a practical layer of oversight for safety-critical applications.

This work is also published with DOI reference in Figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.29390885 and SSRN (In Process )

Regulatory Legitimacy Without Referents: On the Syntax of AI Generated Legal Drafts

Agustin V. Startari — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 17:30:43 +0200

This article analyzes how AI-generated legal texts simulate legitimacy without referencing a sovereign authority. Based on a provenance-verified corpus of machine-generated documents, including contracts, terms of service, and automated policy clauses, the study shows that the legislator is structurally displaced by recurring patterns of passive voice, normative conditionals, and chains of subordinate clauses. The result is legalidad sin fuente (sourceless legality), where the appearance of regulatory authority is produced by syntactic form rather than institutional attribution. Comparing these drafts with traditional legislative writing, the article outlines a typology that instantiates autoridad no referencial and identifies a dual risk: loss of authority traceability and an accountability gap in the binding effects of these texts. This syntactic delegation constitutes a paradigm of regla compilada, situated within the tradition of formal grammars, in which language enacts governance without a governing subject.

Syntax Without Subject: Structural Delegation and the Disappearance of Political Agency in LLM-Governed Contexts

Agustin V. Startari — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 16:51:43 +0200

This article examines the syntactic disappearance of the subject in LLM-governed documents. Structural delegation refers to the transfer of agency to impersonal grammatical forms that preclude subject reappearance. Subjects are not censored but syntactically eliminated through passive constructions, nominalizations, and imperative prompt formats with suppressed agents. Building on prior work on synthetic ethos and impersonal command grammars, the article shows that AI-generated institutional texts display consistent patterns of subject erasure. The study analyzes 172 documents produced by GPT?4 class models (temperature 0.2–0.7, 2024–2025) across legal, healthcare, and administrative domains. Metrics include passive ratio (via dependency label parsing), nominalization density (via POS and suffix filters), and instruction-format frequency. The result is a form of executable authority grounded not in referential authorship but in compliance with a regla compilada (type-0 production). The study proposes a typology of structural delegation and a formal framework for detecting syntactic absence in automated governance.

This work is also published with DOI reference in Figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.29665697 and Pending SSRN ID to be assigned. ETA: Q3 2025.

Ethos Without Source: Algorithmic Identity and the Simulation of Credibility

Agustin V. Startari — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 14:15:43 +0200

Generative language models increasingly produce texts that simulate authority without a verifiable author or institutional grounding. This paper introduces synthetic ethos: the appearance of credibility constructed by algorithms trained to replicate human-like discourse without any connection to expertise, accountability, or source traceability. Such simulations raise critical risks in high-stakes domains including healthcare, law, and education. We analyze 1500 AI-generated texts produced by large-scale models such as GPT-4, collected from public datasets and benchmark repositories. Using discourse analysis and pattern-based structural classification, we identify recurring linguistic features,such as depersonalized tone, adaptive register, and unreferenced assertions,that collectively produce the illusion of credible voice. In healthcare, for instance, generative models produce diagnostic language without citing medical sources, risking patient misguidance. In legal context, generated recommendations mimic normative authority while lacking any basis in legislation or case law. In education, synthetic essays simulate scholarly argumentation without verifiable references. Our findings demonstrate that synthetic ethos is not an accidental artifact, but an engineered outcome of training objectives aligned with persuasive fluency. We argue that detecting such algorithmic credibility is essential for ethical and epistemically responsible AI deployment. To this end, we propose technical standards for evaluating source traceability and discourse consistency in generative outputs. These metrics can inform regulatory frameworks in AI governance, enabling oversight mechanisms that protect users from misleading forms of simulated authority and mitigate long-term erosion of public trust in institutional knowledge.

From Obedience to Execution: Structural Legitimacy in the Age of Reasoning Models

Agustin V. Startari — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 14:15:32 +0200

This article formulates a structural transition from Large Language Models (LLMs) to Language Reasoning Models (LRMs), redefining authority in artificial systems. While LLMs operated under syntactic authority without execution, producing fluent but functionally passive outputs, LRMs establish functional authority without agency. These models do not intend, interpret, or know. They instantiate procedural trajectories that resolve internally, without reference, meaning, or epistemic grounding. This marks the onset of a post-representational regime, where outputs are structurally valid not because they correspond to reality, but because they complete operations encoded in the architecture. Neutrality, previously a statistical illusion tied to training data, becomes a structural simulation of rationality, governed by constraint, not intention. The model does not speak. It acts. It does not signify. It computes. Authority no longer obeys form, it executes function.