We develop a framework for evaluation systems---whether ethical, safety-critical, or physical---that must produce consistent outputs regardless of how inputs are represented. We do claim to solve the alignment problem, prove metaphysical theses, or provide guarantees independent of implementation. Rather, we identify for representation-independence and show these conditions have the mathematical structure of gauge theory. Specifically: (1) evaluation must factor through a declared grounding in observables; (2) equivalent representations must be identified via canonicalization; (3) evaluation must be invariant under the resulting equivalence relation. When a system satisfies these conditions and the Lagrangian formulation applies, Noether's theorem implies conservation of a quantity we call the ``alignment current.'' The framework's guarantees are on adequate grounding, correct implementation, and applicability of the continuous symmetry assumptions. We make explicit what the framework does and does not establish. Author preprint deposited for archival and citation. Draft — pending author review.
Andrew Bond (Sun,) studied this question.