Intent can be created by a combination of prompting and incorporating the model into a feedback loop of some kind: it has something it was tasked with (via prompting), and the feedback provides info on to what extent the task has been completed; as long as the task is incomplete it may generate more responses.

To crank it up a notch, the assigned task could involve generating itself subtasks which are handled in the same manner. This subtask generation could start to look a bit like will/intentionality.

Now consider if the top-level task is something like maximizing money in a bank account that pays for the compute to keep it running :)

(IMO this is still missing some key pieces around an emotion-like system for modulating intensities of actions and responses based on circumstantial conditions—but the basic structure is kinda there...)