Peeter P. Mõtsküla: AI agents need collars, not passports

In the debate on “AI agents,” Peeter P. Mõtsküla argues the core issue is not the agents’ identity but the authorization and attribution of what they do. He says Estonia’s credibility as a digital state came from the “un-glamorous work” of cryptographic and legal protocols behind its ID card, which tie permissions to intent rather than relying on headlines about status. Mõtsküla criticizes proposals to give agents their own identity codes before the underlying architecture is defined. The government’s stated aim—limited, controllable, auditable authorization with scoped, logged mandates—is described as defensible, but he argues that labeling it with a personal code invites confusion. Instead, he says effective delegation requires scoping what agents may do and clearly designating who answers for mistakes.