Can octopuses feel pain and pleasure? Could there even be rudimentary feelings in miniature models of the human brain, grown from human stem cells? And what about AI? These are questions about the edge of sentience, and they are subject to enormous, disorienting uncertainty.
The Edge of Sentience presents a comprehensive precautionary framework designed to help us reach ethically sound, evidence-based decisions despite our uncertainty. We must manage our uncertainty by taking precautions that are proportionate to the risks. It’s time to start debating what those steps should be.
In this talk, Professor Birch will speak about his book and share his insights with our members. Members will have the opportunity to discuss the book and ask Professor Birch their own questions.
About the Speaker:
Jonathan Birch is a Professor of Philosophy at the LSE and Director of the Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience. In 2021, he led a review for the UK government that shaped the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. In 2022-23, he was part of a working group that investigated the question of sentience in AI. In 2025 his book The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI won the Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize.