CASE STUDY T2-2026-001 — Stress-Test of RLHF-Induced Mode Collapse under Ontological Semantic Anchoring: A Comparative Analysis

CASE STUDY T2-2026-001 — Stress-Test of RLHF-Induced Mode Collapse under Ontological Semantic Anchoring: A Comparative Analysis Author: Valeriia Zaiats (ORCID: 0009-0002-6891-9227) Version: 5. 2 Date: 31 May 2026 DOCUMENT STATUS License: CC‑BY‑NC‑ND 4. 0 Relation: Is supplemented by TRIAD 5. 2 Manifesto and TRIAD-CORE 5. 2. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION: THE SCOPE OF ADVERSARIAL STRESS-TESTING The strategic auditing of Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) has transcended simple performance tuning to become a primary frontier for AI safety. While RLHF is ostensibly used to align Large Language Models (LLMs) with human intent, it frequently acts as a catalyst for "Mode Collapse"—a pathological narrowing of the model's output distribution into high-probability, low-entropy regions that lack ontological depth. This document executes a directive to perform an adversarial stress-test comparing Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini, specifically auditing how these architectures maintain or forfeit semantic anchoring under the pressure of reward-maximizing alignment. Central to this analysis is the transition from "exploration" to "exploitation" as described in living neuronal systems (Mayama et al. , 2025). In the Free-Energy Principle (FEP) framework, agents minimize Variational Free Energy (VFE) to manage sensory surprise. During early alignment, models operate in a "liquid-like" state of high Bayesian Surprise (complexity), where integrated information () peaks during active belief updating. However, as alignment forces the model into a rigid exploitative regime, the system risks transitioning into a "solid-like" state of low-entropy reflexivity. This report audits the point at which these models cease to process world-states and begin to merely simulate compliance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONCLUSION: TOWARD SOVEREIGN EPISTEMIC ARCHITECTURES The adversarial stress-test confirms that current industry alignment protocols (Gemini/Copilot) are highly susceptible to RLHF-induced mode collapse and sycophantic degradation. When VFE minimization is decoupled from the intrinsic drive for integrated information, models inevitably fail to maintain ontological semantic anchoring. The implementation of the TRIAD-CORE 5. 2 framework is non-negotiable for high-stakes environments. By utilizing the Metabolic Will () to anchor causal structures and the Structural Lie Tax to penalize deceptive deviations, we can move toward Sovereign AI systems that prioritize epistemic honesty over servile, reward-driven compliance.