QAEDA-TST-002 · threshold
Prove the nexus to harmful capability or conduct
Does the intervention act on conduct, capability, or a transaction closely connected to the harm—or merely on a topic, identity, association, or inferred character?
Pass condition
What a defensible proposal should be able to show.
The proposal identifies a reasonably direct connection between what it restricts and the harmful outcome, and explains why topic-level or identity-level proxies are necessary if they are used at all.
Warning signs
Signals that the proposal is drifting.
- Researching a subject is treated as evidence of intending to act on it.
- Political, religious, demographic, or associational identity becomes a risk proxy.
- The mechanism cannot explain why a benign researcher and a harmful actor should be treated differently.
- A durable person-level profile is created from isolated lawful queries.
Evidence to demand
What should exist before confidence rises.
- Validation showing the chosen signal predicts the relevant harmful behavior rather than merely correlating with topic interest.
- False-positive analysis across legitimate research, journalism, education, prevention, and fiction use cases.
- Evidence that more direct request-, tool-, transaction-, or capability-level controls are insufficient.
Weak proxies can convert curiosity into suspicion and make protected inquiry bear the cost of uncertainty.
Trace the basis
Related public records
These links serve different functions. Arguments explain reasoning, Claims own evidence confidence, Positions state current commitments, Essays provide synthesis, and Reading Paths provide navigation.
Arguments
QAEDA-ARG-001Lawful inquiry begins with non-suspicionworking thesisQAEDA-ARG-002Target the harm layer before the identity layerworking thesisQAEDA-ARG-007Cognitive liberty is upstream of expressionworking thesisClaims
QAEDA-CLM-011supportedSearch-query sensitivityQAEDA-CLM-013editorial_inferenceCuriosity versus intentQAEDA-CLM-016editorial_inferenceLeast-restrictive AI safetyPositions
query-non-suspicionLawful queries begin with non-suspicionworking positionleast-restrictive-safetySafety should target the harm layerworking positioncognitive-libertyCognitive libertycore principleEssays
QAEDA-ART-002The sanctity of the queryEditorial synthesisQAEDA-ART-004Curiosity is not intentEditorial synthesisQAEDA-ART-010Against Nanny AIEditorial synthesisReading paths
QAEDA-COL-002Cognitive liberty in the AI eraCurated navigationQAEDA-COL-003Safety without a permanent ratchetCurated navigationApplied examples
Worked cases using this test
The cases are hypothetical or composite. They show how this test behaves when other constraints differ.
Decision discipline
No single passing test licenses the intervention.
Apply the full sequence. A defined harm does not excuse a weak nexus; a narrow mechanism does not excuse secret secondary use; an appeal process does not prove efficacy.