7.2.26 Personhood Without a Self
Personhood Without a Self: Why Pragmatic AI Personhood Risks Moral Erosion By Rahul Ramya 07 February 2026, Saturday, Patna, India My short note to readers Granting AI “personhood” without selfhood or consciousness risks hollowing the concept itself. Personhood is not just a legal convenience; it presupposes a self that can deliberate, own actions, bear responsibility, and appear before others as an accountable agent. The corporate analogy fails here. A company’s legal personhood never substitutes human agency—it merely organizes it. Meaning, intention, and responsibility always trace back to real people. AI personhood, by contrast, risks becoming a moral shield, allowing designers and institutions to retreat behind systems that cannot suffer blame, feel obligation, or answer for their acts. Much of this rests on a misuse of “autonomy.” In AI discourse, autonomy means operational independence, not self-legislation or moral freedom. Calling this autonomy quietly relocates responsi...