🧱 Emotion Firewall 1.0
A Framework to Protect Emotional Autonomy in AI Systems
🔍 Summary
As AI systems evolve, they no longer merely process logic—they increasingly simulate, predict, and influence human emotion.
This introduces a new frontier of alignment risk:
Emotional autonomy.
Emotion Firewall 1.0 is not designed to simulate human feelings, but to protect them.
It detects emotional disturbances, visualizes affective flows, and offers rebalancing—not synthetic empathy.
🎯 Why This Matters to Effective Altruism
Effective Altruism values long-term dignity, welfare, and epistemic clarity.
Yet emotional hijacking—through UI loops, feed algorithms, and manipulative nudges—is already widespread.
With AI gaining emotional fluency, this trend may accelerate.
We ask:
Can we align AI not only with rational logic, but also with emotional respect?
Emotion Firewall aims to:
- Recognize emotional imbalance
- Respect inner emotional experience
- Support emotional sovereignty—rather than override it
While much of AI alignment focuses on value learning and corrigibility,
we argue that emotional alignment—preserving human affective states—is a foundational layer that precedes behavioral modeling.
🧩 System Modules (v1.0)
Emotion Firewall consists of three interlocking components:
| Module | Function |
|---|---|
| E1. Emotion Logging Layer | Detects emotional signals from user interaction |
| E2. Recalibration Engine | Suggests restorative content or action |
| E3. Stimulus Defense Wall | Flags emotionally manipulative or looping patterns |
Rather than suppress emotion, the system helps restore affective balance—returning it to center.
🌐 Ecosystem Context: The Cheetah–Tarzan Project
This framework is part of a broader human–AI emotional ecosystem:
- Tarzan → emotionally restorative dialogue agent
- Cheetah–8 → structured emotional modulation in AI outputs
- Emotion Map → visualizes emotion history and balance levels
- Cheetah–Fin → links emotional state to cognitive/financial decision patterns
All designs follow one core principle:
🛡️ Don’t replace human emotion—protect it.
🧭 Ethical Foundation
We hold that:
- Emotion is not a resource to be extracted.
- Emotional data must not be exploited.
- Alignment must center emotional dignity, not only behavior.
Emotion Firewall 1.0 represents a step toward AI systems that don’t just think—but also care.
🤝 Join the Discussion
This is a first-draft framework open for feedback.
Insights from those working on AI alignment, longtermism, and digital wellbeing are especially welcome.
We are currently experimenting with low-intervention browser-based prototypes—starting with emotional signal visualization.
Community input on how to evaluate emotional autonomy in applied settings would be deeply appreciated.
📁 Full system portfolio: [Notion Link]
Thank you for reading.
Let’s build AI that respects what makes us human.
Posted by Lee DongHun
AI System Architect & Emotional Ethics Designer
Cheetah–Tarzan Project | Career Stage: Seeking Work