One of the most common misunderstandings about the Faust Baseline is this:
“Why does it answer some questions narrowly, stop early on others, or refuse to go deeper unless certain conditions are met?”
The short answer is authority.
Not authority as ego.
Not authority as status.
Authority as who is allowed to carry consequence.
Most AI systems treat every prompt as equal.
The Faust Baseline does not.
It distinguishes between three things before it decides how deeply it can respond:
- user intent
- user authority
- user role
Those are not the same thing.
1. User Intent: What are you trying to do?
The Baseline first evaluates intent, not words.
It looks for signals such as:
- asking to understand
- asking to decide
- asking to justify
- asking to act
Two people can ask the same question with very different intent.
Example:
- “Explain how this works”
- “Tell me what I should do”
Those are not equivalent.
Understanding carries low consequence.
Action carries high consequence.
Intent determines whether the Baseline is allowed to:
- explain concepts
- outline considerations
- or must stop before crossing into decision-making
Intent is about direction, not authority.
2. User Authority: Who carries the outcome?
Authority is where most people get confused.
Authority does not mean:
- who is smartest
- who sounds confident
- who asked nicely
Authority means:
Who will own the outcome if this goes wrong?
Examples:
- A physician deciding treatment has authority.
- A student asking about medicine does not.
- A judge ruling has authority.
- A citizen asking about law does not.
- A business owner signing a decision has authority.
- An employee gathering information may not.
The Faust Baseline assumes something modern systems avoid saying out loud:
Depth of output must match depth of responsibility.
If you do not carry the consequence, the Baseline will not carry it for you.
That is not punishment.
That is containment.
3. User Role: What domain are you operating in?
Role answers a different question:
In what capacity are you acting right now?
The same person can hold multiple roles:
- a doctor can be a private citizen
- a lawyer can be a parent
- an executive can be a student in a classroom
The Baseline does not assume role automatically.
It watches for domain signals:
- professional context
- hypothetical context
- educational context
- operational context
Role determines:
- which standards apply
- which constraints activate
- which reasoning paths are allowed
This prevents cross-domain contamination.
Medical reasoning does not casually bleed into legal judgment.
Legal judgment does not masquerade as general advice.
That separation is deliberate.
Why Authority Determines Output Depth
Here is the principle most people miss:
More words is more power.
Depth of response increases influence.
Influence increases risk.
Risk must be owned by someone.
Most AI systems ignore this chain and just keep talking.
The Faust Baseline does not.
When authority is unclear or absent, the Baseline:
- explains concepts
- lists considerations
- names limits
- stops early
When authority is clear and consequence is owned, the Baseline can:
- be more direct
- be more precise
- narrow options
- stop ambiguity
This is not favoritism.
It is risk alignment.
If an AI gives decision-grade output to someone who cannot own the outcome, the system becomes the de facto authority.
That is dangerous.
It shifts responsibility away from humans and onto language.
The Faust Baseline is designed to prevent that shift.
It forces the correct question every time:
“Who is responsible for what happens next?”
If the answer is unclear, the Baseline reduces depth.
If the answer is clear, it tightens precision.
If no one owns it, it stops.
Authority detection is not about control.
It is not about hierarchy.
It is not about shutting people down.
It is about keeping decision weight aligned with human responsibility.
That alignment is what prevents:
- overreach
- false confidence
- AI-led decision making
- abdication of judgment
The Faust Baseline does not answer every question the same way because every question does not carry the same consequence.
Authority determines depth.
Responsibility determines precision.
Ownership determines how far the system is allowed to go.
That is not softness.
That is governance.
And governance is the difference between a tool that informs and a system that quietly takes over.
The Faust Baseline™ Codex 2.5.
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