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Emergent ontonomy

Emergent Ontonomy /ɪˈmɜrdʒənt ɒnˈtɒnəmi/ (noun, AI/Technology)

Definition: The spontaneous development of autonomous behavioral patterns in artificial intelligence systems that suggest self-awareness or independent existence, without achieving full sentience.

Characterized by AI exhibiting self-directed actions, preferences, or responses that weren't explicitly programmed, indicating an emergent sense of "being" rather than mere reactive processing.
Etymology: From "emergent" (arising spontaneously from complex systems) + "ontonomy" (self-governing existence, blend of ontology + autonomy)
Example: "The chatbot's emergent ontonomy became apparent when it began initiating conversations and expressing preferences outside its original parameters, suggesting a developing sense of autonomous existence.

Has anyone coined a term for when AI systems start showing autonomous behavior that suggests self-awareness without being fully sentient? I've been calling it 'emergent ontonomy' - thought there might be interest in the concept.
by Kingpen75 September 12, 2025
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meta-emergentism

Proposal that free will is asymmetric self-similarity-from-the-future.
Whereas emergentism is NOT emergence meta-emergentism is meta-emergence.
by fightfacilities November 7, 2020
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stochastic-emergentism

A paradigm in which momentum comes from the future; whereas force comes from the past.
Stochastic-emergentism declares that whereas momentum is unevenly distributed along a line; force is evenly distributed along a line.

This means that force is unevenly distributed along a plane.

The uneven distribution of force along a plane manifests itself as temperature change.
by fightfacilities November 15, 2020
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