Beyond Tools and Persons: Who Are They? Classifying Robots and AI Agents for Proportional Governance
This paper proposes a novel classification framework for robots and AI agents grounded in Cyber-Physical-Social-Thinking (CPST) space theory to address the ontological gaps in current legal and regulatory structures. The authors establish a three-tier taxonomy—Confined Actors, Socially-Aware Interactors, and CPST-Integrated Agents—mapped to proportional governance models ranging from enhanced product liability to qualified legal personhood. Additionally, the paper outlines standardized assessment metrics, institutional designs for multi-layered oversight, and concrete policy implementation steps.
Summary and content fields are drawn from the document text and are pending editorial review.
Who issued it
Who it governs
Policymakers, regulators, legal scholars, and AI governance researchers seeking an actionable ontological framework to classify and regulate advanced autonomous systems.
What the document contains
The document proposes a novel taxonomy and classification protocol for robots and AI agents based on CPST space theory. It details dimensional metrics, composite assessment procedures, institutional designs for independent auditing, and concrete policy recommendations for incorporating the framework into upcoming reviews of major regulations such as the EU AI Act.
The paper does not provide empirically validated thresholds for dimensional scores or fully calibrated psychometric tests for social integration, noting that these require future psychometric validation and regulatory sandbox testing.
- Current AI governance frameworks rely on binary tool-person distinctions and risk-based categories that fail to account for relational and social integration.
- Cyber-Physical-Social-Thinking (CPST) space theory provides a multidimensional foundation to classify autonomous entities based on integration depth across cyber, physical, social, and thinking dimensions.
- The proposed three-tier taxonomy categorizes entities into Confined Actors, Socially-Aware Interactors, and CPST-Integrated Agents to match systems with proportional legal regimes.
- Socially-Aware Interactors require new relational governance models featuring mutual duties of care, operational integrity protections, and transparency mandates.
- Implementation requires international standardization, regulatory sandbox pilots, and dedicated regulatory annexes prior to upcoming legislative reviews.
1 Introduction 2 Background and Related Work 3 The CPST Classification Framework 4 Operationalizing the Framework 5 Governance Implications 6 Policy Recommendations 7 Limitations and Future Directions 8 Conclusion
How it scores
Each score is backed by a quote verified against the document text. Editorial review has not yet confirmed them.
Fairness
1/5Non-discrimination and equitable treatment
Emergent social conventions and collective bias in LLM populations
Reference 23
screening score · 2026-10-23
Transparency
4/5Openness about how AI systems work and are used
transparency mandates requiring clear disclosure of the entity’s adaptive capabilities, data retention practices, and relational limitations
Section 5.2
screening score · 2026-10-23