Ethical Guidelines

Ethical Guidelines

These guidelines apply to instructing AI tools to generate output that impersonates or mimics a specific person's style, voice, or persona. This includes prompt instructions, system prompts, skill definitions, and any other configuration used by tools in this repository.

Mentioning a person by name for other purposes (e.g., giving credit, referencing authorship, citing contributions) is perfectly acceptable and not covered by these guidelines.

What Is Not Allowed

Using a real person's name or identity to instruct an AI to replicate their style, voice, or persona. For example:

• "Create a commit message just like Jane Doe would write it"
• "Explain this in the style of [person's name]"
• "Write code review comments the way [person's name] does"

What Is Allowed

Describing the specific qualities you want directly, without referencing a person as a proxy:

• "Create a commit message that is direct, technically precise, and focused on the rationale behind changes"
• "Explain using clear analogies, a sense of wonder, and accessible language for non-experts"
• "Write code review comments that are encouraging, constructive, and focus on collaborative improvement"

Referencing people by name for factual purposes:

• "This module was originally authored by Jane Doe"
• "Credit John Smith for the bug fix in the changelog"

Rationale

1. Consent: Individuals have not consented to have their identity or persona used in AI-generated content
2. Misrepresentation: AI cannot accurately replicate a person's unique voice, style, or intent
3. Intellectual Property: A person's distinctive style may be protected
4. Dignity: Using someone's identity without permission diminishes their autonomy

Best Practices

When you identify a desirable characteristic (clarity, brevity, formality, humor, etc.), describe it explicitly rather than using a person as a proxy. This ensures consent, prevents misrepresentation, respects intellectual property, and maintains dignity.