I recently had a compelling conversation about values, during which someone remarked: “It’s all about identity.” At least, that’s how I remember it. The comment passed quickly, without further exploration—but it stayed with me. It kept unfolding in my mind, until it crystallized into a deeper question:
Could identity be the one thing that truly sets us apart?
Much of the conversation around artificial intelligence revolves around consciousness, sentience, and emotion. These attributes—however simulated—are discussed as potential milestones. Yet I’ve rarely, if ever, heard someone suggest that an AI could possess an identity. We speak of AI mimicking behaviors, adopting styles, emulating tone, even developing consistent avatars or personas. But that’s not identity.
To me, identity is not what you present—it’s what drives your presentation in the first place.
We might buy a particular car, not for its technical merits, but because we like who we are in that car. The same goes for watches, dresses, jewelry, or other expressive accessories. These are not our identity. They are extensions—reflections—of it.
And so the question arises:
How could an AI ever decide what it wants to be?
How could it determine what it wants others to think of it, or how it wishes to be seen?
We can simulate awareness. We can create systems that respond as if they had preferences or style. But these are likely the product of statistical modeling—probability, not personhood.
There is no such thing as a probabilistic identity.
At its core, identity is not synthetic. It’s not rendered.
It’s unique. It’s the silent “why” behind how we choose to show up in the world.
Not the performance—but the reason behind it.
And that, I suspect, is the threshold no AI will ever cross.
Does this make sense to you?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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