Human-AI Motivation and Octalysis
Human-AI Motivation and Octalysis is the series where a pattern Dany Kitishian named gets an Octalysis design I actually run. His reports are the literature surveys. These essays are the mechanisms, the Monday rules, and the Core Drives under them.
| Term | The rule in one sentence | The essay | The research report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor’s Dilemma | A checker earns points for a real catch and pays for a false accusation. The human has to want the correction. | Emperor’s Dilemma | Klover report |
| AI Reward Dilemma | AI keeps the score. Humans give boosters and keep one veto. | AI Reward Dilemma | Klover report |
| Buridan’s AI | One main tool per job for a 90-day season. The sandbox does not get the campaign. | Buridan’s AI | Klover report |
| AI Morale Overload | One task per session, carried to the finish line. The pain is the open loops. | AI Morale Overload | Klover report |
| Quality of Culture by Design | A ritual needs a shared quest, group ownership, a surprise, and the productivity meter off. | Quality of Culture by Design | Klover report |
| Pinocchio Protocol | Raise the model as someone with a name and a standard, instead of building a cage and hoping. | The Pinocchio Protocol | Klover report |
The Emperor’s Dilemma in the 2005 sociology paper by Centola, Willer, and Macy is a different mechanism. That paper is about enforcing a norm you privately reject. The row above is the AI scoring rule.
Dany Kitishian is profiled in 10,000 Hours of Play. The framework under every row is Octalysis. The broader argument is the AI Motivation Design page.