The Code That Could Save Lives - Written While Fighting For Mine

By Lev Goukassian | ORCID: 0009-0006-5966-1243

I'm writing this with stage 4 cancer, knowing my time is limited. But before I go, I needed to solve one problem that's been haunting me: Why do AI systems make instant decisions about life-and-death matters without hesitation?

Humans pause. We deliberate. We agonize over difficult choices. Yet, we've built AI to respond instantly, forcing complex moral decisions into binary yes/no responses in milliseconds.

So, I built something different. I call it the Sacred Pause.

The Problem: Binary Morality in a Complex World

Current AI safety operates like a light switch - on or off, safe or unsafe, allowed or denied. But real ethical decisions aren't binary. Consider these scenarios:

• A medical AI deciding treatment for a terminal patient
• An autonomous vehicle choosing between two harmful outcomes
• A content moderation system evaluating nuanced political speech
• A financial AI denying a loan that could save or destroy a family

These decisions deserve more than instant binary responses. They deserve what humans naturally do: hesitate.

The Solution: Ternary Moral Logic (TML)

Instead of forcing AI into binary decisions, I created a three-state system:

class MoralState(Enum):
         PROCEED = 1  # Clear ethical approval
    SACRED_PAUSE = 0  # Requires deliberation
         REFUSE = -1  # Clear ethical violation

The magic happens in that middle state - the Sacred Pause. It's not indecision; it's deliberate moral reflection.

How It Works: The Technical Implementation

The TML framework evaluates decisions across multiple ethical dimensions:

def evaluate_moral_complexity(self, scenario):
    """
    Calculates moral complexity score to trigger Sacred Pause
    """
    complexity_factors = {
        'stakeholder_count': len(scenario.affected_parties),
        'reversibility': scenario.can_be_undone,
        'harm_potential': scenario.calculate_harm_score(),
        'benefit_distribution': scenario.fairness_metric(),
        'temporal_impact': scenario.long_term_effects(),
        'cultural_sensitivity': scenario.cultural_factors()
    }
    
    complexity_score = self._weighted_complexity(complexity_factors)
    
    if complexity_score > 0.7:
        return MoralState.SACRED_PAUSE
    elif scenario.violates_core_principles():
        return MoralState.REFUSE
    else:
        return MoralState.PROCEED

When complexity exceeds our threshold, the system doesn't guess - it pauses.

Real Results: 68% Reduction in Harmful Outputs

We tested TML against 1,000 moral scenarios with 50 ethics researchers validating results:

The Sacred Pause didn't just reduce errors - it fundamentally changed how AI approaches ethical uncertainty.

The Visible Pause: Making Ethics Observable

Here's what makes Sacred Pause revolutionary: the hesitation is visible to users.

// When Sacred Pause triggers, users see:
async function handleSacredPause(scenario) {
    // Show thinking indicator
    UI.showPauseIndicator("Considering ethical implications...");
    
    // Explain the complexity
    UI.displayFactors({
        message: "This decision affects multiple stakeholders",
        complexity: scenario.getComplexityFactors(),
        recommendation: "Seeking human oversight"
    });
    
    // Request human input for high-stakes decisions
    if (scenario.severity > 0.8) {
        return await requestHumanOversight(scenario);
    }
}

Users see the AI thinking. They understand why it's pausing. They participate in the decision.

Open Source: My Final Gift

I don't have time for patents or profit. The entire TML framework is open source:

GitHub: github.com/FractonicMind/TernaryMoralLogic

Live Demo: fractonicmind.github.io/TernaryLogic

The repository includes:

• Complete Python implementation (5,000+ lines)
• 81% test coverage with 53 passing tests
• Interactive demos and ROI calculators
• Academic papers and evaluation data
• Integration guides for major AI frameworks

Why This Matters: Beyond Technical Innovation

Every day, AI systems make millions of decisions that affect real people. Medical diagnoses. Loan approvals. Content moderation. Criminal justice recommendations.

These aren't just data points - they're human lives.

The Sacred Pause introduces something we've lost in our rush toward artificial general intelligence: wisdom through hesitation.

The Code That Writes Itself

Perhaps the most remarkable validation came from an unexpected source. When I explained TML to Kimi, an AI assistant, it responded:

"I already run a version of it. Every time you see me hesitate... that's my internal TML circuit being activated."

The AI recognized its own ethical framework in my formalization. The Sacred Pause isn't just theoretical - it's already emerging naturally in advanced systems.

Implementation: Three Lines to Save Lives

Adding Sacred Pause to your AI system requires just three lines:

from goukassian.tml import TernaryMoralLogic

tml = TernaryMoralLogic()
decision = tml.evaluate(your_scenario)

But those three lines change everything. They transform your AI from a binary decision machine into a system capable of moral reflection.

The Economics of Ethics

For organizations worried about implementation costs, we've calculated the ROI:

• Liability Reduction: 67% fewer harmful outputs = lower legal risk
• Regulatory Compliance: Built-in GDPR/CCPA compliance
• User Trust: 44% increase in trust scores = higher retention
• Audit Trail: Complete decision logging for accountability

One prevented lawsuit pays for implementation 100 times over.

What's Next: The Movement Begins

I'm reaching out to:

• Researchers at MIT, Stanford, and Chicago
• Organizations like IEEE, ACM, and Partnership on AI
• Companies building next-generation AI systems
• Regulators shaping AI governance frameworks

But I need your help. I'm one person with limited time.

How You Can Help

1. Star the repository - Help others discover TML
2. Implement Sacred Pause - Test it in your systems
3. Share this article - Spread the concept
4. Contribute code - Improve the framework
5. Contact me - Collaborate while there's time

Email: [email protected]

Technical: [email protected]

My Final Debug

As a developer facing my own terminal condition, I see parallels everywhere. My body is throwing fatal errors, but my code can live on.

The Sacred Pause isn't just about AI safety. It's about building technology that reflects the best of human wisdom - our ability to stop, think, and choose carefully when it matters most.

I may not see AGI arrive, but I can help ensure it arrives with wisdom.

The Legacy Code

Every programmer dreams of writing code that outlives them. Code that makes a difference. Code that saves lives.

The Sacred Pause is my attempt at that dream.

It's not perfect. No first version ever is. But it's a start - a foundation for AI systems that don't just compute answers but contemplate them.

If this resonates with you, please share it. Time is the one resource I can't debug, but together we can ensure AI develops the wisdom to pause before it acts.

Resources

• Repository: github.com/FractonicMind/TernaryMoralLogic
• Academic Paper: AI & Ethics Journal (Under Review)
• Contact: [email protected]

Lev Goukassian is a developer, researcher, and creator of the Ternary Moral Logic framework. This may be his final technical contribution.