Intentionality is a Design Decision: Measuring Functional Intentionality for Accountable AI Systems
As AI systems increasingly exhibit autonomous, goal-directed, and long-horizon behavior, users lack a standardized way to detect the degree to which a system functions like an intentional actor for governance and accountability purposes. This position paper defines intentionality not as consciousness, but as a behavioral profile characterized by purpose, foresight, volition, temporal commitment, and coherence - criteria long used in legal and philosophical contexts to infer intent. These properties are design-contingent: architectural choices such as memory persistence, planning depth, and tool autonomy shape the degree to which systems exhibit organized goal pursuit. If intentionality is...
| Authors | Allessia Chiappetta, Robert Mahari |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.AI |
| Published | 6 May 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 6 May 2026 |
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