| --- |
| license: cc-by-4.0 |
| language: |
| - en |
| tags: |
| - nlp |
| - llm |
| - alignment |
| - ai-safety |
| - evaluation |
| - semantic-fidelity |
| - semantic-drift |
| - meaning |
| - language |
| - interpretability |
| - reasoning |
| - generative-ai |
| pretty_name: Semantic Fidelity Framework |
| --- |
| |
| # Semantic Fidelity Framework |
| A framework for evaluating whether AI systems preserve meaning, not just produce correct outputs. |
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| Core Papers | Reality Drift Framework (2023–2026) |
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| This repository contains the foundational papers of the Semantic Fidelity Lab, a research initiative focused on how meaning is preserved, degraded, and transformed in AI systems. |
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| As generative models scale, most evaluation focuses on accuracy, coherence, and performance. This work introduces a different axis: semantic fidelity, the degree to which meaning remains intact across compression, transformation, and generation. |
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| Across these papers, semantic fidelity is treated as a structural property of intelligent systems, not just a linguistic concern. The framework outlines how meaning degrades under optimization, recursion, and abstraction, even when outputs remain fluent and correct on the surface. |
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| --- |
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| ## Core Contributions |
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| - Defines semantic fidelity as a missing dimension in AI alignment and evaluation |
| - Identifies semantic drift as a primary failure mode in generative systems |
| - Distinguishes accuracy from meaning preservation |
| - Introduces the compression paradox, where scaling increases fluency while degrading fidelity |
| - Explores how constraint collapse leads to loss of grounding |
| - Reframes hallucination as a downstream symptom rather than the root issue |
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| --- |
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| ## Contents |
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| **SFL-01 — What Is Semantic Fidelity?** [Academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/165878179/What_Is_Semantic_Fidelity_Preserving_Meaning_in_the_Age_of_Artificial_Intelligence) [Internet Archive](https://dn711101.ca.archive.org/0/items/what-is-semantic-fidelity-preserving-meaning-in-the-age-of-ai/SFL-01_What-Is-Semantic-Fidelity_Preserving-Meaning-in-the-Age-of-AI_A-Jacobs.pdf) |
| Introduces the core concept and establishes meaning preservation as a central problem in AI systems. |
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| **SFL-02 — When Accuracy Isn’t Enough** [Academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/165878213/When_Accuracy_Isn_t_Enough_Semantic_Fidelity_in_AI_Systems) [Internet Archive](https://dn710101.ca.archive.org/0/items/when-accuracy-isnt-enough-semantic-fidelity-in-ai-systems/SFL-02_When-Accuracy-Isnt-Enough_Semantic-Fidelity-in-AI-Systems_A-Jacobs.pdf) |
| Explores the gap between surface correctness and preserved intent. |
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| **SFL-03 — Measuring Fidelity Decay** [Academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/165878262/Measuring_Fidelity_Decay_in_Generative_Systems_How_Meaning_Erodes_Under_Compression_Recursion_and_Scale) [Internet Archive](https://dn720005.ca.archive.org/0/items/measuring-fidelity-decay-in-generative-systems/SFL-03_Measuring-Fidelity-Decay-in-Generative-Systems_A-Jacobs..pdf) |
| Examines how meaning degrades across generative processes. |
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| **SFL-04 — The Compression Paradox in AI** [Academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/165878281/The_Compression_Paradox_in_AI_Why_Meaning_Breaks_Before_Models_Hallucinate) [Internet Archive](https://dn711100.ca.archive.org/0/items/the-compression-paradox-in-ai-why-meaning-breaks-before-models-hallucinate/SFL-04_The-Compression-Paradox-in-AI_A-Jacobs.pdf) |
| Analyzes how scaling and optimization affect semantic integrity. |
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| **SFL-05 — Constraint Collapse and Fidelity Decay** [Academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/165878292/Constraint_Collapse_and_Fidelity_Decay_When_Feedback_Stops_Correcting_Symbolic_Systems) [Internet Archive](https://dn721905.ca.archive.org/0/items/constraint-collapse-fidelity-decay-ai-alignment-jacobs/SFL-05_Constraint-Collapse-and-Fidelity-Decay_A-Jacobs.pdf) |
| Describes how loss of grounding leads to drift. |
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| **SFL-06 — Stop Calling It Hallucination** [Academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/165912554/Stop_Calling_It_Hallucination_The_True_Failure_Mode_of_AI_Is_Semantic_Drift) [Internet Archive](https://dn710201.ca.archive.org/0/items/semantic-drift-vs-hallucination-ai-language-models/SFL-06_Stop-Calling-It-Hallucination_The-True-Failure-Mode-of-AI-Is-Semantic-Drift_A-Jacobs.pdf) |
| Reframes common failure modes as semantic drift rather than randomness. |
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| **SFL-07 — Language as Cognitive Exhaust** [Academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/165912640/Language_as_Cognitive_Exhaust_What_Language_Reveals_About_Thought_Compression_and_AI) [Internet Archive](https://dn720908.ca.archive.org/0/items/language-cognitive-exhaust-thought-compression-ai/SFL-07_Language-as-Cognitive-Exhaust_What-Language-Reveals-About-Thought-Compression-and-AI_A-Jacobs.pdf) |
| Positions language as a compressed residue of thought. |
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| **SFL-08 — A Semantic Fidelity Lexicon** [Academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/165912698/A_Semantic_Fidelity_Lexicon_Preserving_Meaning_in_the_Age_of_Generative_Systems) [Internet Archive](https://dn711001.ca.archive.org/0/items/semantic-fidelity-lexicon-ai-meaning-framework/SFL-08_A-Semantic-Fidelity-Lexicon_Preserving-Meaning-in-the-Age-of-Generative-Systems_A-Jacobs.pdf) |
| Defines key terms and concepts within the framework. |
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| **SFL-09 — Autopoiesis and AI Alignment** [Academia.edu](https://www.academia.edu/165912769/Autopoiesis_Is_the_Missing_Variable_in_AI_Alignment_Why_Systems_That_Cannot_Preserve_Themselves_Cannot_Truly_Align) [Internet Archive](https://dn710900.ca.archive.org/0/items/autopoiesis-ai-alignment-self-maintaining-systems/SFL-09_Autopoiesis-Is-the-Missing-Variable-in-AI-Alignment_A-Jacobs.pdf) |
| Explores self-referential systems and the role of internal constraints. |
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| ## Context |
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| Part of the Semantic Fidelity Lab and the broader Reality Drift Framework (2023–2026), this work establishes semantic fidelity as a structural concern in AI alignment, evaluation, and system design. |
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| Rather than optimizing for outputs alone, this framework focuses on whether systems remain meaningfully connected to the realities they are meant to represent. |
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| --- |
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| ## Core framework and sources |
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| - Research Library (GitHub): [Semantic Fidelity Lab Repository](https://github.com/therealitydrift/semantic-fidelity-lab) |
| - Articles & Essays (Substack): [Semantic Fidelity Lab Substack](https://semanticfidelitylab.substack.com/) |
| - Primary DOI Record: [Figshare DOI Entry](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30422107) |
| - Concept Glossary: [Semantic Fidelity Glossary](https://offbrandguy.com/semantic-fidelity-glossary/) |
