The Edge of Sentience
Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI
dc.contributor.author | Birch, Jonathan | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2024-10-21T10:27:02Z | |
dc.date.available | 2024-10-21T10:27:02Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/93755 | |
dc.description.abstract | Can octopuses feel pain and pleasure? What about crabs, shrimps, insects, or spiders? How do we tell whether a person unresponsive after severe brain injury might be suffering? When does a fetus in the womb start to have conscious experiences? Could there even be rudimentary feelings in miniature models of the human brain, grown from human stem cells? And what about AI? These are questions about the edge of sentience, and they are subject to enormous, disorienting uncertainty. The stakes are immense, and neglecting the risks can have terrible costs. We need to err on the side of caution, yet it’s often far from clear what ‘erring on the side of caution’ should mean in practice. When are we going too far? When are we not doing enough? The Edge of Sentience presents a comprehensive precautionary framework designed to help us reach ethically sound, evidence-based decisions despite our uncertainty. | en_US |
dc.language | English | en_US |
dc.subject.classification | thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTQ Ethics and moral philosophy | en_US |
dc.subject.classification | thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy | en_US |
dc.subject.classification | thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind | en_US |
dc.subject.classification | thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMT Psychology: states of consciousness | en_US |
dc.subject.classification | thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSA Life sciences: general issues::PSAN Neurosciences | en_US |
dc.subject.classification | thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PS Biology, life sciences::PSA Life sciences: general issues::PSAD Bioethics | en_US |
dc.subject.classification | thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDK Science funding and policy | en_US |
dc.subject.other | sentience, consciousness, animals, invertebrates, AI, disorders of consciousness, fetuses, organoids, precaution, proportionality | en_US |
dc.title | The Edge of Sentience | en_US |
dc.title.alternative | Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI | en_US |
dc.type | book | |
oapen.identifier.doi | 10.1093/9780191966729.001.0001 | en_US |
oapen.relation.isPublishedBy | b9501915-cdee-4f2a-8030-9c0b187854b2 | en_US |
oapen.relation.isFundedBy | 7686d2e3-7664-45eb-84d6-20eb8c4e1afa | en_US |
oapen.pages | 398 | en_US |
oapen.place.publication | Oxford | en_US |