HEART Framework Technical White Paper: Constitutional Governance for AI Empathy Ethics

This technical white paper presents the HEART Framework (Human-Centric Empathic Alignment for Responsible Technology), a complete constitutional governance architecture for AI systems that process human emotional signals. Building on Empathy Systems Theory's demonstration that empathy functions as biological infrastructure maintaining narrative coherence, HEART establishes constitutional protection through Seven Axioms and Four Core Principles: Human-Centric Design, Empathic Alignment, Accountability in Emotional Processing, and Responsible Technological Deployment.

The paper demonstrates technical feasibility through HeartQuest's Master Emotional Core (MEC), a symbolic emotional reasoning middleware providing complete implementation satisfying constitutional requirements. The Functional Empathy Theorem (FET) enables objective measurement of constitutional compliance, while Heart Validator Codes (HVC) provide cryptographic enforcement transforming certification from bureaucratic approval into mathematical verification.

Professional infrastructure establishes the Guardian workforce, trained professionals analogous to medical practitioners or financial auditors who operationalize standards across diverse technical contexts. Three adoption pathways (Policy, Technical, Research) enable implementation across regulatory, engineering, and academic domains. The framework positions AI Empathy Ethics as a mature governed profession with complete infrastructure: theoretical foundation, constitutional principles, measurement standards, professional workforce, economic mechanisms, and legal formalization.