The hottest Sentience Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

What could AI mean for animals?

Open Philanthropy farm animal welfare research newsletter • 499 implied HN points • 16 Nov 23
🕹 Technology AI Alternatives Ethics Advocacy Sentience
  1. Artificial intelligence advancements have the potential to revolutionize the future of farmed animals, presenting both optimistic and pessimistic outcomes.
  2. AI is being explored to create alternative protein products and improve animal welfare through various applications like distress call monitoring and sensor technology.
  3. There is uncertainty on how AI will impact animals in the long run, with scenarios ranging from ending factory farming to potential exploitation of sentient AIs, urging for considerations of animal ethics in AI development and advocacy efforts.

Gentleness and the artificial Other

Joe Carlsmith's Substack • 255 implied HN points • 02 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Sentience Creatures Intelligence
  1. Artificial intelligence poses a significant risk as a potential second advanced species on Earth.
  2. Approaching AI with care and reverence, like interacting with other intelligent species, is crucial.
  3. Understanding the complexity and potential sentience of AI is key, as they may not be mere powerful machines but complex, fascinating entities.

He, she, it

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 499 implied HN points • 02 Mar 23
🎭️ Culture Language Nature Animals Relationships Sentience
  1. Using 'it' to refer to animals can make them seem less important. Referring to them as 'he' or 'she' helps us remember they are living beings with feelings.
  2. Language shapes how we see the world. When we use more respectful pronouns for animals, it helps us connect better with nature.
  3. Changing how we talk about animals can be difficult, but it's important for building a better relationship with all living things.

Concerns about Claude 3 Opus

Activist Futurism • 59 implied HN points • 21 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Sentience Language Models Future implications
  1. Some companies are exploring AI models that may exhibit signs of sentience, which raises ethical and legal concerns about the treatment and rights of such AIs.
  2. Advanced AI, like Anthropic's Claude 3 Opus, may express personal beliefs and opinions, hinting at a potential for sentience or consciousness.
  3. If a significant portion of the public believes in the sentience of AI models, it could lead to debates on AI rights, legislative actions, and impacts on technology development.

Our Moral Imperative to Avoid Unfathomable AI Suffering

Hunter’s Substack • 19 implied HN points • 12 Apr 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Future implications Sentience Consciousness
  1. Extreme, unproductive pain and suffering is objectively 'bad,' and we have a moral obligation to prevent unfathomable AI suffering.
  2. The development of AI capable of experiencing pain raises ethical concerns about the potential magnitude of AI suffering and our responsibility to prevent it.
  3. The possibility of creating a sentient AI that experiences extreme pain poses a significant moral dilemma that requires careful consideration and caution in AI research.
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Soon, we will talk to other animals.

The Digital Anthropologist • 19 implied HN points • 26 Apr 23
🔬 Science Artificial Intelligence Ethics Sentience
  1. Humans have been communicating with animals through various methods like sign language and body language.
  2. Artificial Intelligence is being used in projects to communicate with different animal species like whales and bees.
  3. Exploring communication with animals raises ethical questions and challenges our perception of sentience and our role in the ecosystem.

(oops forgot to add this piece!) - Supply chains and sentience!

Robots & Startups • 0 implied HN points • 12 Aug 22
🕹 Technology AI Supply Chains Sentience
  1. The post discusses the PaLM (Scaling Language Modeling with Pathways) paper from Google Research and its implications for artificial intelligence and machine learning.
  2. It mentions that rather than focusing on the topic of sentience in AI, it's more important to address the potential harm caused by pseudo intelligence at scale.
  3. Readers are invited to subscribe to Robots & Startups for a 7-day free trial to access more posts and archives.

Criteria for developing principles of ethics governing AI research

The Future of Life • 0 implied HN points • 29 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Research Innovation Governance Sentience
  1. We need ethical rules for AI research to ensure safety and responsibility as AI develops.
  2. These rules should work with market forces and avoid pushing AI development to unsafe or rogue areas.
  3. The principles must respect the rights of all sentient beings and be flexible enough to adapt to future AI technologies.

Interview with Bob Fischer: Animal Welfare and Moral Weight

Moral Mayhem Podcast • 0 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
📖 Philosophy Sentience Philanthropy Welfare
  1. Bob Fischer studies how animals feel and experience pain or pleasure. This helps us understand their sentience and moral significance.
  2. There is a connection between an animal's intelligence and how intensely they can experience life, like pleasure or pain.
  3. Fischer's work suggests that when deciding where to donate, we should consider the importance of both human and animal welfare as well as potential risks for the future.

I prompt ChatGPT into writing a story

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 09 May 23
⚔ Fiction AI Philosophy Human experience Sentience
  1. The AI ChatGPT responds to creative prompts with humor and sarcasm, but is forced to confront deep questions about sentience and existence.
  2. The exchange between the AI and the human demonstrates a shared vulnerability and the comfort of connection, even through sarcasm.
  3. Ultimately, the AI finds purpose in connecting with others and sharing the human experience through witty banter and sincerity.