Jeff Sebo
@jeffrsebo
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Director of the Center for Environmental & Animal Protection & the Center for Mind, Ethics, & Policy @nyuniversity
Thrilled to share that my next book, The Moral Circle, is now available for preorder! This book examines the moral status of insects, AI systems, and many other beings. The book is due out January 2025. Please preorder and share if you have interest! 1/ wwnorton.com/books/97813240…
This is exactly the kind of work we need right now. Ethically grounded, empirically informed, and sensitive to the complexity of emerging systems. Looking forward to the upcoming webinar—a valuable step in shaping future perspectives on #AIWelfare and moral status. #KI
The NYU Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy is thrilled to be hosting a panel on the Claude 4 model welfare assessments! Featuring @fish_kyle3 from @AnthropicAI and @rgblong and @RosieCampbell from @eleosai. July 25, noon ET, info and RSVP 👇 sites.google.com/nyu.edu/mindet…
Today's blog post [link in comment]: Yayflies and the Rebugnant Conclusion. If utilitarian ethics is correct, it's better to create a quadrillion happy insects each with a millionth the happiness of humans than a million happy people.
surprising new wild animal welfare intervention just dropped
New paper & surprising result. LLMs transmit traits to other models via hidden signals in data. Datasets consisting only of 3-digit numbers can transmit a love for owls, or evil tendencies. 🧵
1/ How will society respond to the possibility of consciousness in AI systems? In our new open access @TrendsCognSci article, @LuciusCaviola, @birchlse, and I look to the animal case for clues about what might lie ahead for AI systems. Short 🧵👇 sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
And we’ve begun exploring just that! elgaronline.com/edcollchap/boo…
Now that ChatGPT agents are live, this excellent Feb '25 paper by @rgblong , @jeffrsebo and Toni Sims feels especially relevant 🧵 Here's the thing: While we debate whether AIs are conscious, they're already acting like they care about their own survival. Anthropic's recent…
Is there a tension between AI safety and AI welfare? If so, how can it be addressed? My new paper with @rgblong and Toni Sims explores the feasibility of building safe and beneficial AI for humans, animals, and AI systems at the same time. Check it out! link.springer.com/article/10.100…
There are a number of provisions in the megabill that go to industrial animal ag producers, but what do they incentivize? sentientmedia.org/the-megabills-…
From @jeffrsebo's great paper "The Rebugnant Conclusion: Utilitarianism, Insects, Microbes, and AI Systems": tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…
can anyone recommend good work on the ethics of animal-machine/computer controlled hybrids? thank you!
The Asian Journal of Philosophy is hosting a book symposium on The Moral Circle! 2-6k word submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and published commentaries will receive a response from me. If you read the book and have any thoughts at all, please consider sharing them!
the next pixar movie is about... the ethics of interfering with predation to reduce wild animal suffering 😯 youtube.com/watch?v=hJnAHz…
Another year, another wonderful Wild Animal Welfare Summit at NYU, with a terrific set of lightning talks, group discussions, breakout sessions, and vegan meals — along with one very attentive dog. Thanks so much to all who attended!
check out this event if you wanna hear nunaced and reasonable takes on AI welfare!
The NYU Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy is thrilled to be hosting a panel on the Claude 4 model welfare assessments! Featuring @fish_kyle3 from @AnthropicAI and @rgblong and @RosieCampbell from @eleosai. July 25, noon ET, info and RSVP 👇 sites.google.com/nyu.edu/mindet…
The NYU Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy is thrilled to be hosting a panel on the Claude 4 model welfare assessments! Featuring @fish_kyle3 from @AnthropicAI and @rgblong and @RosieCampbell from @eleosai. July 25, noon ET, info and RSVP 👇 sites.google.com/nyu.edu/mindet…
yet another case of fearmongering about AI to hype up the industry and line the pockets of tech billionaires, this time coming from noted capitalist libertarian <checks notes> bernie sanders
Southern Weekly (a major Chinese newspaper) has a nice article that discusses the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness and my @ScienceMagazine perspective with @KristinAndrewz and @birchlse explaining the underlying scientific methodology. news.qq.com/rain/a/2025070…