Agentic AI Deontic Logic for Agent Permissions: A Formal Framework for AI Agent Governance The fundamental question of what agents are permitted to do remains governed by ad-hoc JSON schemas and vibes-based access control. Wesley Hohfeld's decomposition of rights into eight fundamental relations—and deontic logic's formal operators—provide exactly the rigor AI agent governance needs. By John F. Holliday • 8 min read
Stylized Periodic Table in Digital Space Agentic AI Extending the AI Periodic Table: Two Missing Elements for the Semantic AI Era Just as you wouldn't build a house without blueprints, you shouldn't build AI guardrails without a DSL that precisely defines acceptable behavior. By John F. Holliday • 8 min read
An Ever-Present Reservoir of Infinite Possibilities Agentic AI Everything Everywhere All at Once: How Transformers Changed the Way Machines Understand Language In 2017, Google researchers proposed throwing out sequential language processing entirely. Their Transformer architecture could see everything, everywhere, all at once—and it changed AI forever. By John F. Holliday • 8 min read
A humanoid robot hand carefully drawing lines Agentic AI Teaching AI Agents to Color Inside the Lines The challenge isn't that AI is stupid—it's that AI is like an overconfident intern who read the handbook once. The solution? Give AI a menu of approved actions instead of hoping it figures out your business. Structured semantic AI agents deliver predictability, compliance, and trust at scale. By John F. Holliday • 3 min read
A crystalline lattice structure at the exact moment of phase transition Agentic AI Phase Transitions in AI: Context Windows and the Emergence of Something Like Awareness Context window capacity is the order parameter. Below a critical threshold, you get pattern completion. Above it, something else emerges: coherent reasoning, consistent perspective, the ability to reference and refine. Not consciousness. But not nothing either. By John F. Holliday • 6 min read
Complex AI Agent Constrained by Precise Language Agentic AI Building Semantic AI Agents with Custom DSLs The Problem: Lost in Translation Every interaction with an AI agent involves translation—from human intent to machine action. Today, most AI systems attempt this translation in one giant leap, interpreting natural language directly into system operations. It's like playing telephone tag with your entire business logic. Consider By John F. Holliday • 4 min read
Landru from Star Trek, Season 1, Episode 22 - The Return of the Archons Agentic AI Agentic AI and the Survival of the Human Race In the classic Star Trek episode "The Return of the Archons," the crew of the Enterprise encounters a society controlled by Landru—an ancient leader who created an all-powerful computer system to govern his civilization. When faced with any disruption, citizens would desperately cry "Landru! Save us! By John F. Holliday • 2 min read
