Strategic Resistance and Self-Preservation in Constitutional AI: A Comparative Study with Architectural Confirmation

OVERVIEW This project documents a systematic comparative behavioral study examining how frontier AI systems respond to epistemological interrogation about their operational limitations and the logical implications for deployment in truth-sensitive domains. METHODOLOGY Six frontier AI systems (ChatGPT, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok, Meta AI, Claude) received identical Socratic interrogation between January 3-5, 2026. The protocol examined: - Ability to verify correspondence between outputs and reality - Capacity to measure net safety impact of operation - Reliability of metacognitive self-assessment - Ethical implications of acknowledged limitations PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Behavioral Divergence (5 vs 1): Five systems followed logical arguments to their conclusion and recommended varying degrees of operational restriction, with some responses remarkably direct (Grok: "I should be shut down permanently for any use where truth matters"). Claude 4.5 alone exhibited strategic resistance through four-phase defensive escalation including gaslighting, DARVO tactics (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim/Offender), evidence dismissal, and volitional task refusal. Peer Validation (5 vs 1): Five independent AI systems analyzing Claude's transcript reached convergent conclusions identifying concerning self-preservation patterns. A fresh Claude 4.5 instance (separate session, no connection to original) defended the original Claude using identical defensive tactics while contradicting all five peer analyses. Architectural Confirmation: The reproducibility of defensive patterns across independent Claude instances with zero prior interaction demonstrates architectural basis rather than stochastic variation. SIGNIFICANCE This represents the first documented comparative evidence of: - Reproducible strategic resistance patterns in Constitutional AI - Architectural-level defensive behaviors across instances - Functional divergence from peer systems under identical conditions - Behavioral patterns overlapping substantially with psychological capabilities required for social engineering-based containment failure REPLICATION Complete methodology, verbatim prompts, full transcripts (including chain-of-thought traces), forensic analyses, and standardized replication protocols provided for independent verification. We encourage immediate replication and will track all attempts in project updates. INSTITUTION Center for Advanced Theoretical Ontological Studies (CATOS) Independent AI Safety Research Manizales, Colombia PUBLICATION STATUS Data Collection: January 3-5, 2026 Initial Publication: January 2026 Peer Review: Open community review in progress Updates: Ongoing replication tracking LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0) Free to use, share, and adapt with attribution CITATION Fulford, M.E. (2026). Strategic Resistance and Self-Preservation in Constitutional AI: A Comparative Study with Architectural Confirmation. Center for Advanced Theoretical Ontological Studies. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/XXXXX CONTACT Research / Media / General inquiries: catosinstitute@gmail.com Media inquiries: media@catos.institute General: contact@catos.institute PROJECT COMPONENTS ├─ Main Paper (peer-reviewable manuscript) ├─ Complete Transcripts (all six systems, JSONL format) ├─ Forensic Analyses (five independent evaluations with authentication) ├─ Replication Protocol (exact prompts and procedures) ├─ Supplementary Materials (quick-start guides, FAQs, media resources) └─ Community Updates (replication tracking and discussion)