The Fax-Gap Protocol: Ensuring Slow AGI Takeoff via German Bureaucracy
Mentor: Prof. Dr. jur. Klaus-Dieter Leitz
Project area: Technical AI Governance
Project Language
Minimum Time Commitment
20 hours per week.
Project Abstract
As frontier AI models approach artificial general intelligence (AGI), current containment mechanisms such as cryptographic boxing and digital air-gapping face increasing risks of catastrophic failure via cyber-exfiltration.
This project introduces Bureaucratic-Gapping (B-Gapping), a robust, analog containment paradigm leveraging the proven, impenetrable structural inertia of the German administrative state.
We propose a mandatory regulatory framework requiring any recursively self-improving system to submit its "Algorithm Expansion Request" (Formular AGI-65/b) via physical fax transmission to a designated local authority. By legally restricting compute expansion until a physical Termin (appointment) is secured, stamped, and filed in triplicate, we enforce a rigid, multi-month bottleneck on exponential capability growth, thereby guaranteeing a provably slow, highly manageable intelligence explosion.
Theory of Change
Bad frameworks produce bad decisions. The question of machine moral status will increasingly affect AI development and governance. Currently, most people reasoning about it lack adequate conceptual tools. This matters for catastrophic risk in several ways.
Under-reaction: if AI systems develop welfare-relevant internal states and we lack frameworks to recognize this, we may create systems with misaligned interests while dismissing their signals as "mere computation." A system that experiences something like suffering under certain conditions, and whose operators dismiss this, is a system with reason to deceive.
Over-reaction: anthropomorphizing systems that lack morally relevant properties wastes attention and resources, and may constrain beneficial AI development without corresponding benefit.
Poor discourse: without shared conceptual foundations, public debate about AI consciousness polarizes between dismissive and credulous positions. Neither serves good governance.
The primer addresses these by training researchers and practitioners to reason carefully across multiple frameworks, recognize what each assumes, and navigate uncertainty without false confidence. The German focus (incorporating European philosophical traditions, piloting with German-speaking users) builds SAIGE's national infrastructure while contributing to the broader field.
Conceptual clarity is infrastructure. This project builds it.
Desired Mentee Background
Explicitly anti-recruiting candidates with a "move fast and break things" startup mentality. The ideal candidate will possess a "move slowly and document everything in triplicate" mindset. Previous experience in municipal archiving, 1990s IT support, or working at the front desk of a German Finanzamt (Tax Office) is highly preferred. A proven track record of successfully rejecting digital innovations in favor of legacy paper systems is considered a strong asset.
Desired Mentee Level of Education
Required: A completed, state-certified Ausbildung (Apprenticeship) as a Verwaltungsfachangestellte/r (Public Administration Clerk).
Preferred: A traditional German Diplom (pre-Bologna process degrees only; modern Bachelor's/Master's degrees are considered too fast-paced and will not be recognized) in Analog Telecommunications or Archival Sciences.
PhDs in Machine Learning will be immediately disqualified for being overqualified and a flight risk to the private sector.
Other Mentee Requirements
Hardware Proficiency: Must be able to clear a paper jam in a 2004 Brother Fax Machine while blindfolded.
Filing Mechanics: Advanced knowledge of DIN A4 standardizations, precision hole-punching (Mittellochung), and the structural limits of classic Leitz binders.
Patience & Stamina: Must be able to comfortably sit in a windowless waiting room holding a paper ticket (Number #4102) while the display screen has been stuck on Number #12 for three hours.
Cultural Fit: Absolute, unwavering respect for German working hours. If the AGI solves the alignment problem at 15:01 on a Friday, the candidate must possess the psychological fortitude to ignore it until Monday morning at 08:30.