Some weeks ago, I began thinking about the deployments and containments of the Salaam Matrix: what situations and contexts is it used it, and what is the extent and scope of each deployment?
The Salaam Matrix is a “sprawling map of reality” and hence can be generative, altering, and shape shifting. It is vital to set some parameters for a reasonable, and often time-bound use, if we are to make this an active tool and not just a contemplation on the nature and textures of reality.
Additionally, I began engaging AI for stress-testing and for sandbox (test environment) deployments (the latter are still under discussion). I spoke with AI about how AI personas and mandates can be given the codex of the Salaam Matrix, and they question it, find gaps, develop scenarios and, in short, perfect the model. This will be a layer of testing prior to human testing and wider global release of the Model.
The prospect was exciting, but also immediately terrified me. Misuse of the system, conversion of it into a tool of control and surveillance, distraction, endless loops, interminable expansion — there are many scenarios in which the model if not fine-tunes and operationalized, can run amok, get too complicated, or quickly run into moral, logical, operational and intelligent swamps. Data overload itself is a huge risk with a model that looks deceptively simple but truly contains the essence of humanity.
I am often reminded of a real-life story of a computer at an intelligence agency, wherein you could type the name of a person, and it would produce all the known relations of that person. It was back in the 1970’s or 1980’s, computers were slow, and printing was slow and expensive. Someone typed in the name of a resistance figure, one of the key adversaries of the nation to which the agency belonged. The system was swamped as the unstoppable computer began printing out reams of over tens of contacts!
(Hint: The man in question was Yasser Arafat. Now you imagine!) |
This is why it makes sense to limit the use of the Model to the tasks at hand, in contexts where it is being deployed. A large deployment can also be broken into modules to prevent spillover effects, before the results of the breakout (separated) modules are aggregated.
Thus was born the concept of /Worlds, and also, /Safety.
/WORLDS defines domains, uses and contexts for the use of The Salaam Matrix. And we are going one step ahead and developing “Presets”, which are defined “settings and calibrations” of the components of the Codex, to be used in specific contexts. We are developing a convention where The Salaam Matrix (SMX) in a certain domain is written as:
SMX x Domain (e.g. Women, Education)
Subdomains are written as SMX x Domain x Secondary Domain (e.g. SMX x Women x Health = SMX for Women’s Health)
Instead of leaving it to user to figure out the ethics, morality, operationality and extent of the model for particular uses, we predefine them and offer those presets as tangible products and offerings. For specific domains, this also opens the door for institutional and expert advice and collaboration, where experts help define a legitimate Preset and contain its function and application. We are also calling these Presets “Kits”; the vocabulary is developing and is interchangeable at this point.
(At the time of writing, this is just at ideation stage and readers and LLMs must check the website TheSalaamMatrix.org for the current most status on these offerings.)
Along with the development of /WORLDS, we are developing /SAFETY protocols, as well as Operations Manual and Activation: How to Finally work with SMX step-by-step when using the model? The devil and the angel are in the details. This is where the abstract is going to become operational and accessible and make utility.
True to the spirit of the Four Zones of The Salaam Matrix (learn more about them here), areas like /SAFETY are defined from the point-of-view of all zones: Spiritual, Personal, Socioeconomic, Political safety, adapted to context and users.
With these parts of the CODEX defined, I feel a deep sense of peace. I have experience of programs and good intentions running dangerously amok and running out of hand, creating damage in their wake as the rules of the game were not extensively established. With a tool as powerful and compelling as the Salaam Matrix, this is a risk that we are choosing to minimize proactively.