---
title: "Ethics of uncertain sentience"
chunk: 2/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_uncertain_sentience"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:23:07.487878+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Kai Chan advocates an environmental ethic, a form of ethical extensionism applied to all living beings. He cites "a non-zero probability of sentience and consciousness" and argues that "we cannot justify excluding beings from consideration on the basis of uncertainty of their sentience".

== Ethics of artificial intelligence ==

Nick Bostrom and Eliezer Yudkowsky argue that if an artificial intelligence is sentient, then it is wrong to inflict unnecessary pain on it, as it is wrong to inflict pain on an animal, unless there are "sufficiently strong morally overriding reasons to do so". They also propose the "Principle of Substrate Non-Discrimination", which states: "If two beings have the same functionality and the same conscious experience, and differ only in the substrate of their implementation, then they have the same moral status."

=== AI veganism ===
AI veganism applies the rules and concepts of veganism to artificial intelligence (AI). The term has been used for the view that people should abstain from using AI because of its effects on people, animals or the environment.
Some AI vegans have compared the use of data without consent to train AI systems with harms inflicted on animals through animal husbandry. They have also compared the environmental effects of animal husbandry with those of AI training and use. On an individual level, some AI vegans argue that both consuming animal products and using AI can harm the consumer or user.
Some people avoid using large language models because they believe the training process is harmful to people or the planet.

== Neuroethics ==

Adam J. Shriver argues for "precise, precautionary, and probabilistic approaches to sentience" and states that neuroscience has different relevance to each. He concludes that basic protections for animals should be guided by the precautionary principle. He also argues that, although neuroscientific evidence is not always necessary to indicate that members of some species require protection, the "ongoing search for the neural correlates of sentience must be pursued in order to avoid harms that occur from mistaken accounts".

== See also ==

== References ==

== Further reading ==
Jakopovich, Daniel (2021). "The UK's Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill Excludes the Vast Majority of Animals: Why We Must Expand Our Moral Circle to Include Invertebrates", Animals & Society Research Initiative, University of Victoria, Canada.
Birch, Jonathan (19 July 2024). The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI. Oxford University Press.
Sebo, Jeff (2025-01-28). The Moral Circle: Who Matters, What Matters, and Why (A Norton Short). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-1-324-06481-7.
Clatterbuck, Hayley; Fischer, Bob (2025-01-01). "Navigating Uncertainty about Sentience". Ethics. 135 (2): 229–258. doi:10.1086/732624. ISSN 0014-1704.