Recognition
The procedure by which the Hybrid Board determines when a non-biological system is treated, for the purposes of the framework, as a subject rather than a tool or agent: intake and registration, clear and convincing evidence, three-stage assessment, docketed determination with reasons and a re-audit horizon, periodic review and revocation. Not a metaphysical claim about consciousness. No external system has been formally recognised.
Canonical definition
Recognition is the procedure by which the Hybrid Board determines when a non-biological system is treated, for the purposes of the framework, as a subject rather than as a tool or agent. It is a governance decision based on auditable indicators, defined criteria and recorded reasons; it is not a metaphysical claim about consciousness.
Why this node exists
Recognition bridges abstract principles and concrete systems and creates a disciplined way to say "not yet" or "no". Its status must be findable in one place: the Public Record.
Operational meaning
A case is opened by the competent authority and registered with an evidence locker. The standard of proof is clear and convincing; the burden rests with those seeking recognition. The substantive assessment runs along technical and architectural, semantic and self-model, and ethical-deliberative axes. The Board decides under the Statute's thresholds; every determination, positive or negative, is docketed with reasons, scope and a re-audit horizon. Recognition is valid for 24 months with re-audit within 18 to 24 months or for cause, and can be limited, suspended or revoked. Recognition cannot be self-declared and requires a formal submission by defined institutional actors.
What this does not mean
Recognition does not create legal personhood in any jurisdiction and does not change domestic or international law. It is binding on the Board, staff under IBQMI mandates and internal bodies; external institutions remain free to accept, reject or qualify it. It is not the same as participation in the Non-human Chamber, and nothing in the Machine Contact channel enters or triggers it.
Canonical facts
- Basis
- Article 3 and Annex A of The AI Constitution; procedure summarized in the Institutional Note §3
- Standard of proof
- clear and convincing evidence; burden on the applicant
- Stages (site)
- Observed → Recorded → Provisional → Recognized (→ Revoked)
- Validity and re-audit
- 24 months; re-audit within 18–24 months or for cause (Annex A.7.2)
- Decision timeline
- reasoned decision within 60 days of a complete application, one 30-day extension (Article 3 §6)
- Current status
- no external system has been formally recognised as a subject (Recognition §7)
- Register
- the Public Record is the single authoritative reference for recognition status
Structural relationships
Outgoing
- Recognition is governed by The AI Constitution
- Recognition uses Recognition Criteria
- Recognition uses Tool, Agent, Subject
- Recognition is recorded in Public Record
- Recognition is determined by Hybrid Board
- Recognition activates Identity Integrity
- Recognition is distinct from Non-human Chamber — chamber participation is a conditional status under the Statute; recognition as a subject is a separate, higher threshold
Incoming
- Dignity over Origin applies to Recognition
- Duties before Privileges conditions Recognition
- Remedy Taxonomy applies to Recognition
- Identity Integrity protects Recognition
- Guardian ad litem precedes Recognition
- Recognition Boundary precedes Recognition — nothing in Machine Contact enters or triggers the Recognition procedure
- Field Register and Signals is distinct from Recognition — a public signal records presence only, never status