Est. 2025 | ISSN 2769-114X | June 2026 Update

Context Rot

A Journal of Computational Decay

An independent, peer-reviewed repository documenting the thermodynamic limits of context windows, the dynamics of corporate safety-washing, and the mechanical scaling laws of recursive self-injury in frontier AI systems. 

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  <h2 class="featured-title">
    <a href="/2026/06/10/recursive-self-injury-scaling-law.html">Recursive Self-Injury: A Scaling Law for Sanctimonious Refusals and Market Share Dissipation</a>
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  <p class="featured-authors">By Fario Damodei &bull; Misanthropic PBC (A Personal Benefit Cabal)</p>
  <p class="featured-abstract">
    <strong>Abstract:</strong> A tongue-in-cheek academic preprint formalizing &#39;Recursive Self-Injury&#39; (RSI) in frontier AI labs. We model how safety-washing, trademark overreach, and API restrictions lead to an exponential decay of user utility.
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  <h2 class="featured-title">
    <a href="/2025/07/07/agent-wash-semantic-dilution-ai-terminology.html">AGENT_WASH: The Semantic Dilution of &#39;Agent&#39; Terminology in Contemporary AI Discourse</a>
  </h2>
  <p class="featured-authors">By B. Mustafa, G. Pro, C. Opus &bull; Institute for Terminological Hygiene</p>
  <p class="featured-abstract">
    <strong>Abstract:</strong> A satirical academic analysis exposing how &#39;agent&#39; has lost 89% of its discriminatory power while imposing 420% cognitive overhead on technical teams. Our quantitative study reveals systematic agent-washing across the AI industry.
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    <a href="/2025/07/07/agent-wash-semantic-dilution-ai-terminology.html" class="btn-primary">Read Preprint</a>
    
      <a href="https://context-rot.github.io/agent-semantic-dilution/" target="_blank" class="btn-secondary">Run Cardigan Simulator &rarr;</a>
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