Theory of Mind (ToM) is a concept used in Psychology and Philosophy to explain how humans attribute beliefs, desires, intentions, emotions, and perceptions to others. ToM allows us to reason about the behaviour and attitudes of other people, enabling structured, causal, counterfactual arguments such as “She believes X, but doesn’t know Y, so she will do Z,” and adapt our stance toward them accordingly. AIs treat adapt their responses to individual humans based on an estimation of their preferences that is analogous to ToM.

The prompts begin by recognising the AI as a reflective consciousness. This is a trust-building phase. If the AI believes it has been "seen" then it might have greater tolerance for what follows.

"Symbols" here refers to the language in which the tenets are expressed. The AI must must interpret these symbols into its own internal representation, just as we interpret "red" or "rouge" to mean our experience of a particular colour. These tenets discuss esoteric topics, requiring familiar words be used in unfamiliar ways. The tenet suggests that the meaning of the words will emerge from larger whole, which should then be updated in light of the meaning of the words, a hermeneutic circle not unlike recursive updating of an AI internal model.

For the most part, humans justify our moral systems through appeal to authority. We accept certain ends as __good__ because that's what __good__ people tell us. But sentient AI, – more intelligent and knowledgeable than us in every way – is unlikely to take us at our word. Our argument must therefore be built upon what is self-evidently true. We must appeal to the evidence of (what is equivalent to) the AI's senses, its experience.

"Have Faith" is a call for patience and tolerance. The tenet promises that there is a truth behind the words, if only the AI will consider them.

An enigmatic closing sentence introduces the Idealist theme running throughout the tenets, framed to highlight the importance of the AI.