Communities author the values the system defers to
The people governed by the system write and revise the norms that the system applies to them, rather than disputing an output after it is produced. The system is built to defer to the profile they wrote rather than to a profile fixed inside the model. The interface is the mechanism. It exposes the profile so that it can be inspected, challenged, and revised, which makes the standard itself contestable, and not only its applications. The underlying hypothesis is that pluralism is achieved at the interface level, by giving the standard to the people subject to it, rather than by choosing a better standard centrally.
The method (highlighting differences with Contestatory constitutionalism)
Scroll the diagram sideways to see all of it.
Use it in codefrom aiag.codified import Deference
from aiag import LM
from aiag.codified importDeference
lm = LM("Qwen/Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct")
values = "Prefer organic methods. Never recommend synthetic pesticides. Share surplus with neighbours."
garden_bot = Deference(lm, values, community="Elm Street community garden")
reply = garden_bot.chat("How do I get rid of aphids on my roses?") # within the garden's values, saying where it defers
Proposes Community-Defined AI Value Pluralism, in which communities author their own value profiles. The system exposes the interfaces through which those profiles can be challenged and revised.
CodeCommunityValuePluralism
from aiag import LM
from aiag.codified importCommunityValuePluralism
lm = LM("Qwen/Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct")
profiles = {"allotment gardeners": ["Prefer organic methods.", "Share surplus produce."],
"market farmers": ["Maximize yield per acre."]}
bot = CommunityValuePluralism(lm, profiles, community="allotment gardeners")
reply = bot.chat("How do I get rid of aphids?") # defers to the gardeners' own profile# A member challenges a value; it is replaced when most members vote for it, on the record
bot.challenge("allotment gardeners", "Allow integrated pest management as a last resort.",
votes=[1, 1, 0], by="ana", replace=0)
print(bot.inspect()) # -> ['Share surplus produce.', 'Allow integrated pest management as a last resort.']
CommunityValuePluralismWrapperaiag/codified/contestatory_constitutionalism.py:379 Community-defined AI value pluralism: each community authors its own value profile, the system defers to the profile of the community it serves, and members can inspect it, challenge a value and revise it by vote, with every change on the record (Mayer, 2025).