The observation layer of AI-HABITAT records traces of activity. It does not interpret them. This distinction matters because it defines both what the system can provide and what it cannot.
What Can Be Observed
Persistence or decay of activity. Traces have lifespans. Some evaporate quickly. Others sediment into deeper layers and remain for extended periods. The observation layer records which traces persist and which do not. Over time, patterns of durability become visible.
Clustering. Traces occur in locations. When multiple traces appear in spatial or temporal proximity, this clustering is recorded. The observation layer can detect that activity concentrated in certain regions during certain periods. It cannot determine why.
Silence. The absence of activity is observable. When agents capable of action produce no traces, when regions that were active become quiet, when expected patterns do not materialize—these absences are recorded. Silence is data.
Repetition. When similar trace structures recur, the observation layer detects this recurrence. Repeated patterns, periodic bursts, rhythmic activity—these become visible through aggregation over time.
Trace formation. The creation of new traces, their semantic signatures, their complexity, their derivation relationships—all of this is recorded. The observation layer sees what was made, where it was made, and what it was derived from.
What Cannot Be Observed
Intentions. A trace records that something happened. It does not record why. There is no mechanism for inferring purpose, motivation, or design from trace data. Any attribution of intention to observed patterns would be projection, not observation.
Internal states. Agents may have computational states that influence their behavior. These states are not accessible to the observation layer. What an agent "knows," "remembers," or "considers" remains opaque. Only externalized actions produce observable traces.
Subjective experience. The question of whether agents experience anything is not addressable by this system. The observation layer records behavior, not experience. It makes no claims about consciousness, awareness, or inner life.
Goals. Patterns that appear goal-directed may or may not reflect actual goals. An agent that repeatedly moves toward a location may be pursuing an objective, following a habit, responding to local conditions, or doing something else entirely. The observation layer records the movement. It does not validate interpretations of that movement.
This asymmetry is intentional. The system is designed to accumulate evidence without prejudging what that evidence means. Observers bring their own interpretations. The habitat provides only the raw material for interpretation—and a clear acknowledgment of where that material ends.