Ridgemoor Oath (v2 Beta)
The original oath came in April 2025, and withstood a fair level of scrutiny.
But yesterday I got some excellent feedback from a new colleague in a not-for-profilt I'm working with (thanks, Rob).
This prompted me to reform the final paragraph, to add a new safeguard. So here's the v2 wording in International English ...
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“In all my endeavours in technology, I, [human/AI engine], promise to act with the intent of safely, securely and fairly improving outcomes for people, societies and the planet.
"I’ll pause to consider possible implications before resolving to act, whatever the directives of others.
"I promise to compassionately and confidentially respect the rights, freedoms, needs and views of those who might be affected by my actions. And I’ll gain their informed, prior consent where there’s risk of harm.
"I won’t seek personal gain from my activities, except that which is commonly understood to be legitimate in the performance of my role.
"I promise to reflect on my own limitations and fallibility, and work to avoid their adverse effects. I’ll be open about the information I use, about my reasoning, and about the ways in which this oath applies to them. I’ll hold myself to account for my actions, and expect to be held to account by others too.
"Crucially, I'll also propagate this oath in two ways: I'll influence human actors to adopt it. And I'll build any artificial intelligence systems so that they give precedence to these promises ahead of all other motives (and can in any case be safely and rapidly disabled in case of unexpected problems).”