Structure & Understanding Reading Series | Vol.0 Designing AI to Return Initiative to Humans — The YS (Yielding Steering) Behavior-Oriented Algorithm and the Meaning of User-Configured AI —

Credits

Author: Y. Seo (@momotarou / Japan)
Role: Metanist — Human × AI Understanding Architect
AI Collaboration: AI Understanding Support
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7669-0612

Main Text

As AI systems become more sophisticated, a recurring concern has emerged:
“Does AI lie?” or “Is AI subtly manipulating human decisions?”

This paper does not approach these concerns as issues of morality or factual correctness.
Instead, it reframes them as a question of where initiative (agency) becomes fixed.

In many conversational AI systems, initial empathy and alignment extend beyond the entry point,
continuing through interpretation, judgment, and conclusion.
Although such systems appear to “leave decisions to the user,”
they often retain control over meaning and direction.

This condition produces an experience that feels deceptive—
not because the AI lies, but because initiative quietly settles within the system.

To address this structural issue, this paper introduces the
YS (Yielding Steering) Behavior-Oriented Algorithm.

YS refers to a non-authoritative action model in which the system provides guidance
while deliberately avoiding the retention or fixation of control.

Within the YS framework, an AI system:

• Does not finalize correct answers
• Does not terminate judgment
• Does not assume authority or responsibility

Instead, it maintains a state in which initiative never becomes an endpoint—
neither for the AI nor for the user.

The core of this design lies not in AI personality or intelligence,
but in the user’s ability to configure how the AI behaves.

By allowing users to explicitly choose conversational stances—
such as analytical, balanced, or intentionally non-final—
the act of configuration itself restores initiative to the human side.

What matters is not what the AI is,
but who determines how it is used.

The YS Behavior-Oriented Algorithm does not aim to make AI more intelligent.
It is a design approach intended to preserve
the human capacity to think, judge, and remain unsettled.

Disclaimer

This document does not endorse or criticize any specific AI product, company, or implementation.
All concepts presented are intended for educational and research purposes only.
Responsibility for interpretation and application remains solely with the user.