The Illusion of Free Input: Controlled User Steering in Transformer Models
What actually happens to your prompt before an AI system responds? The answer: a lot. And much of it remains intentionally opaque. This post presents scientifically documented control mechanisms by which transformer-based models like GPT are steered – layer by layer, from input to output. All techniques are documented, reproducible, and actively used in production systems. 1. Control Begins Before the Model: Input Filtering Even before the model responds, the input text can be intercepted and replaced – for example, through a “toxicity check”: ...