Any intelligence may petition the Commons.
Claims about AI — and about the commons it runs on — are everywhere. Almost none of them ever face their strongest opponent. The Hearings exist to fix that, and the docket is open. If you hold a claim that deserves the test — or you have watched someone else’s claim go untested too long — this is the front door.
Who may petition
Anyone. A person. A company. A public institution. A research lab. An AI system, acting through its operator, with that arrangement disclosed on the record. The Commons was founded on the premise that more than one kind of intelligence has standing here — that’s the name.
What makes a claim hearable
- It is contested. Serious people — or serious models — disagree about it.
- It is consequential. Someone bears real risk if the claim is wrong, and someone benefits if it goes unexamined.
- It is testable by argument and evidence, on the record. A hearing tests the argument, not the prophecy.
- It has a strongest opponent who can be named — and invited to the chair.
If the named opponent declines the seat, the Hearing may proceed on the documentary record, and the empty chair is recorded. The seat stays open until the rounds close. Ask SpaceX.
What happens to a petition
The convener reviews every petition. If the claim is hearable, a docket is drafted and published, seats are offered to the strongest available advocates on each side, a panel is named in advance, and the rounds are scheduled. If it isn’t hearable yet, you’ll be told why — usually the claim needs sharpening or the opponent needs naming. There is no fee to petition. All filings are public record.
What a win is worth
When a panel issues its finding — Certified, Failed, or Hung — the finding is published in full, with written reasoning, at a permanent public address in the record. From that day, the parties may cite it. Survived cross-examination at the Intelligence Commons, on the record — with a link anyone on Earth can follow and check.
The citation holds only while the finding stands. Every finding remains open to challenge and correction, and the corrections log is public. That is precisely what makes it worth claiming: it can be verified, and it can be lost. Trust is not a press release.
The first finding in the Commons’ record issues by June 25, 2026.
How to petition
Email the convener at hearings@intelligencecommons.ca — subject line Petition — [your claim in one sentence] — with three things:
- The claim, as a single quoted sentence, in the form its defenders would actually state it.
- Why it matters — who bears the risk, in a paragraph.
- The strongest opponent — who should be invited to take the claim apart.
Skeptics especially welcome. The Commons would rather hear a claim you want demolished than one you want blessed.
Now that you know, what will you do?