Commons Scientific Paper — Volume V

This paper defines Fallback Ethics, a practical control architecture for modern AI systems that ensures any autonomous agent can de-elevate itself safely when its authorization, stability, or consent framework becomes uncertain. The protocol blends cryptographically verified policy enforcement, psychological-safety design, and fault-tolerant computation. We propose a unified model combining Open Policy Agent (OPA) logic, tamper-evident audit trails, and consent-token verification to create self-limiting intelligence with provable rollback capability.