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ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: ZENODO
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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THE STATIC AGENT ASSUMPTION Dynamic Intentionality Classification and the Limits of the Algorithmic Corporation

Authors: LERER, Ignacio Adrián;

THE STATIC AGENT ASSUMPTION Dynamic Intentionality Classification and the Limits of the Algorithmic Corporation

Abstract

Arbel, Goldstein, and Salib's Algorithmic Corporation (A-corp) proposal offers the most architecturally sophisticated legal response yet to the problem of AI agent individuation. Its diagnosis is sound: existing entity law cannot identify AI wrongdoers, and governing harmful AI behavior requires instruments that reach beyond human principals. The cure, however, rests on an unexamined structural assumption. This article identifies that assumption and argues that it fails. The A-corp's thick-identity solution presupposes that AI agents can be treated as persistent entities at stable, classifiable intentionality levels, what I call the Static Agent Assumption. Drawing on Asymmetric Intentionality Theory, the Generalized Intentionality Mismatch Theorem (GIMT), and multilevel Evolutionary Game Theory, I show that the assumption fails on three independent grounds. Post-RLVR agents transit between intentionality levels within a single task; legal incentives calibrated to a stable level misfire precisely during the execution phases generating the highest-volume harmful actions. I formalize this as Dynamic Classification Failure, the sixth mode of the GIMT. The emergent-selection mechanism operates at evolutionary timescales structurally mismatched to harm-accumulation rates in capable AI systems, functioning retrospectively as harm-pricing rather than prospectively as prevention. Mandatory institutionalization generates hysteretic lock-in; applying the Constitutional Lock-in Index, projected scores reach 0.75, placing the A-corp mandate among historically reform-resistant governance structures. I propose The Responsibility Ramp as a dynamic alternative: task-phase-level intentionality classification, graduated liability scaled to operative cognitive architecture at the moment of harm, and attribution tracing to the configuration decision that specified the harmful objective. The Ramp is compatible with the A-corp's cryptographic registry, which should be legislated independently.

Keywords

AI governance, intentionality mismatch, algorithmic corporation, Extended Phenotype Theory, Evolutionary Game Theory, Asymmetric Intentionality Theory, Dynamic Classification Failure, Responsibility Ramp, institutional hysteresis, Constitutional Lock-in Index

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average