Executive summary: Impartialist sentientism combined with evidence for invertebrate and AI sentience leads to radical moral conclusions about the astronomical importance of invertebrate and digital welfare across the universe, causing existential anxiety but also motivating further research and action on these neglected issues.
Key points:
Even weakened versions of impartialist sentientism lead to radical moral conclusions due to the vast numbers of potential invertebrate and AI sentient beings.
Growing evidence suggests non-negligible probability of sentience in some invertebrates and future AIs, with astronomical numbers of potential moral patients.
Combining these views with longtermism and moral impartiality leads to concerns about alien invertebrate welfare and risks of creating vast numbers of suffering digital minds.
This causes existential anxiety and alienation, but also motivates further research on invertebrate and AI sentience, welfare, and ethics.
Practical implications include rethinking charitable giving, career choices, and cause prioritization to account for these potentially vast sources of moral value.
Key areas for further work include invertebrate sentience research, AI sentience philosophy, and developing policy/advocacy approaches for these issues.
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Executive summary: Impartialist sentientism combined with evidence for invertebrate and AI sentience leads to radical moral conclusions about the astronomical importance of invertebrate and digital welfare across the universe, causing existential anxiety but also motivating further research and action on these neglected issues.
Key points:
Even weakened versions of impartialist sentientism lead to radical moral conclusions due to the vast numbers of potential invertebrate and AI sentient beings.
Growing evidence suggests non-negligible probability of sentience in some invertebrates and future AIs, with astronomical numbers of potential moral patients.
Combining these views with longtermism and moral impartiality leads to concerns about alien invertebrate welfare and risks of creating vast numbers of suffering digital minds.
This causes existential anxiety and alienation, but also motivates further research on invertebrate and AI sentience, welfare, and ethics.
Practical implications include rethinking charitable giving, career choices, and cause prioritization to account for these potentially vast sources of moral value.
Key areas for further work include invertebrate sentience research, AI sentience philosophy, and developing policy/advocacy approaches for these issues.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.