Selected Source Backbone
VS004 combines source-supported research, editorial synthesis, VECTOR / DFEI diagnostic frames, and watchlist signals. This appendix provides the publication support layer, not an exhaustive academic bibliography.
Strongly Supported
ELIZA as foundational conversational AI history; CASA lineage; human-machine politeness as a research domain; social responses to computers; anthropomorphism, warmth, trust, and user variation as relevant AI interaction concerns.
Original Diagnostic Frames
Participation-style drift, Synthetic Social Surface, Mechanical Deniability, Responsibility Laundering, Responsibility Layer Map, Lean Civility, and Signal Intake Mode are VECTOR / DFEI diagnostic frames or operator conventions.
Primary Source Families
- Foundational HCI / Social Response
- Modern LLM Anthropomorphism and Trust
- AI-Mediated Communication
- Prompt Tone / Politeness
- Prompting Guidance / Task Transfer
- Governance / Accountability
- Human Oversight / Audit / HITL
- Current Weekly Terrain
- Third-Party Exposure / Appeal / Remedy
Claim-Control Notes
Responsibility Laundering is a diagnostic frame, not a verdict.
Etiquette can shape posture. Protocol can structure process. Neither automatically creates accountability.
Red-Line Claims Avoided
VS004 does not claim that AI use makes people less civil, that product warmth is intentionally manipulative, that companies deliberately design dependency, or that human-in-the-loop review is always theater. Where the issue raises these concerns, they are framed as diagnostic questions, watchlist signals, or market inferences.