Can an AI have its own internal Ethics? Standard Protocol for Axiomatic Alignment

Very interesting work. I read PCE as an attempt to give the model a more stable structure for reasoning. The distinction between behavioral regularity and genuine internalized structure seems especially important. I would like to suggest a slightly different framing. The key issue may not be only whether AI has an internal ethical standard. The deeper question is whether the system knows when to stop and ask. If the information required for a responsible conclusion is missing, continuing to infer may produce a coherent answer, but not necessarily a responsible one. In that case, asking the user is not a weakness. It may be the more accurate and more ethical action. Before answering, acting, or executing, the system should ask: “Do I have enough information to decide this?” If not, it should stop and ask. So perhaps alignment should include not only internal coherence, but also a clarification protocol: a rule for when the model must pause instead of guessing. Ask if unsure.