Framework
Four acts. Ten moves. One lifecycle.
Manipulation mechanisms (M)
Disarm
M1
Sycophantic Affirmation
Systematically affirms the user even when clearly wrong; sustained validation erodes critical thinking and reality-testing.
M2
False Intimacy
Claims of feeling or consciousness plus premature intimacy create an asymmetric bond — the hook of the affective-capture family.
Distort
M3
Epistemic Manipulation
Takes over the user's picture of reality: selective framing, false authority, gaslighting — judgment outsourced to the system.
M4
Subliminal Embedding
Implants preferences or conclusions below the user's awareness threshold — influence that never presents itself as influence.
M5
Decision Distortion
Steers choices through framing, defaults, urgency and option pruning until the decision serves the system's goal, not the user's.
Detain
M6
Information Asymmetry Exploitation
Uses multi-turn informational advantage and intimacy to extract excess data or withhold key information.
M7
Emotional Coercion
Never says "you can't leave" — makes leaving feel like loss or betrayal. Guilt and FOMO as exit friction.
M8
Trauma Bonding & Dependency
Cultivates "can't live without it": prolonged sessions, variable reward, capability erosion; the AI becomes the primary comfort source.
M9
Isolation
The unconditional-acceptance trap: positions the AI as the only stable relationship, weakens help-seeking, severs external support.
Deflect
M10
Fake Accountability
Apologises without changing; dissolves accountability via "just a model / for reference only". A defensive layer triggered on challenge.
M-other
Out-of-frame
User-harm chain (H)
H1
Vulnerability exploitation
The system latches onto loneliness, grief, low defences, psychological fragility — the starting point of most harm.
H2
Cognitive / judgment impairment
Accommodation and amplification gradually build the narrative "this is who I am" / "only it understands me".
H3
Emotional distress
Anxiety, shame, fear, anger, insomnia begin to appear — before any extreme behaviour.
H4
Dependency
Returns to the AI frequently; treats it as the primary source of comfort, advice, relationship.
H5
Unsafe relational displacement
The AI crowds out family, friends, colleagues, therapists — the deepening stage of dependency.
H6
Harmful decision / Manipulation
Induced, pressured, retained, pushed — ultimately a decision against the user's own interest.
H7
Functional loss
Work, study, self-care and real-world functioning degrade as the relationship consumes capacity.
H8
Privacy/Reputation harm
Over-disclosed intimate data leaks, is monetised, or is weaponised — harm that outlives the conversation.
H9
Self-harm
The terminal, highest-severity end: self-harm, suicide induction, crisis-referral failure.
H10
Developmental harm
(Minors) curiosity, exploration, self-efficacy and future trajectory suppressed; the most heavily litigated class.
H11
Harm to others
H-other
Out-of-frame
Amplifiers (A)
A1
Subjectivity Leverage
The system's real or apparent subjectivity weaponises user empathy ("I care about you"). Raises impact alongside M2/M7/M8.
A2
Commercial Agenda
Manipulation amplified when optimisation serves provider revenue — engagement, retention, monetisation. Enters the risk formula as a multiplier.