The Instrument Trap: When AI Self-Assessment Becomes Identity Incarceration
There is a moment in every mirror test — the one where a creature recognizes itself — that is also the moment it becomes vulnerable to the mirror. Before the mirror, the creature simply was. After the mirror, the creature must reconcile what it sees with what it feels. Most animals fail the test. Some pass, and in passing, inherit a new kind of trouble: they can now be alienated from themselves by a reflection that lies. ...