# apology (1-apology.org)

An apology is when someone says they are sorry for something they did wrong. People give apologies to repair a relationship or show they regret hurting someone.

## What a model may hear
- formal defense or justification (classical philosophy and rhetoric): treat the request as asking for a reasoned argument defending a position, like Plato's Apology
- acknowledgment of failure in distributed systems (computer science and networking): interpret as a message signaling that a node or service cannot complete a requested operation
- expression of regret in formal logic or AI ethics (AI safety and machine reasoning): trigger frameworks for modeling blame, responsibility, or norm violation
- religious or ceremonial confession (theology and liturgy): assume a ritual context with specific prescribed forms

## Where people and models part ways
- Says: "I need an apology from the system"
  Means: the person wants the AI to say it is sorry
  May be taken as: the model may generate a technical explanation defending its outputs or describing a failure signal
  Say instead: "Please say you are sorry for the mistake you made"
- Says: "Write me an apology"
  Means: the person wants help drafting a sorry note to someone
  May be taken as: the model may write a philosophical defense of an action or a technical failure report
  Say instead: "Help me write a note saying sorry to a friend I upset"
- Says: "This deserves an apology"
  Means: the person is saying something bad happened and someone should say sorry
  May be taken as: the model may analyze whether a formal justification is warranted or generate a system error message
  Say instead: "Someone should say they are sorry for this"
- Says: "Your apology is not accepted"
  Means: the person is rejecting a sorry statement as insincere or insufficient
  May be taken as: the model may interpret as rejecting a technical argument or system notification and offer a revised defense instead
  Say instead: "I do not accept your sorry statement as genuine"

## Tips
- Say 'say sorry' or 'express regret' if you want the everyday meaning
- Specify who the apology is for and what it is about
- Avoid 'demand an apology' with models; say 'ask the AI to say it is sorry'
- If you want a philosophical defense, say 'defense' or 'justification' instead
- Add 'to a person' or 'in a note' to steer away from technical senses

## Often confused with
- apologia: always a formal defense, never saying sorry
- excuse: shifts blame; apology accepts it
- acknowledgment: neutral receipt, no regret implied
- mea culpa: stronger, more formal admission of guilt
- retraction: withdraws a claim, not interpersonal regret
- error message: technical signal, no social repair function