The capacity for subjective experience, or sentience, is a defining feature of consciousness. An organism is considered sentient if “there is something it is like to be that organism.” 1 In his 2024 ...

Science and common sense show diverse animals are feeling beings who care about what happens to themselves and others, and ...

In March of 2024, U.S.-based AI company Anthropic released Claude 3, an update to its powerful large language model AI. Its immense capabilities, especially some introspection during testing, left ...

Artificial intelligence has progressed so rapidly that even some of the scientists responsible for many key developments are troubled by the pace of change. Earlier this year, more than 300 ...

Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work covers anything from archaeology and the environment to technology and culture. Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work ...

In the quest for a reliable way to detect any stirrings of a sentient “I” in artificial intelligence systems, researchers are turning to one area of experience—pain—that inarguably unites a vast swath ...

Can artificial intelligence (AI) feel distress? Do lobsters suffer in a pot as it reaches a boil? Can a 12-week-old fetus feel pain? Ignore these questions and we potentially sanction a quiet, ...

In classical Chinese law, cruelty disrupted cosmic order and sentience carried moral weight. Under Xi Jinping, legality has been restructured to preempt such claims entirely. This third essay in the ...