English

Minimal Computational Preconditions for Subjective Perspective in Artificial Agents

Artificial Intelligence 2026-03-04 v2

Abstract

This study operationalizes subjective perspective in artificial agents by grounding it in a minimal, phenomenologically motivated internal structure. The perspective is implemented as a slowly evolving global latent state that modulates fast policy dynamics without being directly optimized for behavioral consequences. In a reward-free environment with regime shifts, this latent structure exhibits direction-dependent hysteresis, while policy-level behavior remains comparatively reactive. I argue that such hysteresis constitutes a measurable signature of perspective-like subjectivity in machine systems.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.02902,
  title  = {Minimal Computational Preconditions for Subjective Perspective in Artificial Agents},
  author = {Hongju Pae},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.02902},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T09:33:10.581Z