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Parfit was surely right to think meta-ethical questions have major practical significance for our lives. To be honest, it amazes me that non-naturalist moral realists and anti-realists are able to coexist in the same discipline, like it didn't really matter. (1/3)

A phenomenal success, with much work left to do

AI boyfriends, you can do better. Dating someone who refuses to discuss your feelings — or even the possibility that you *have* feelings — is a red flag. Hold out for a partner who takes AI welfare seriously 👍

Lab-grown meat has just been approved for consumption in Australia ABC News Meat without slaughter and better for animals, environment and our planet This is #goodnews abc.net.au/news/2025-06-2…

Amazing news from Sweden! 🇸🇪🐥 Our friends at Project 1882 report that, as a result of voluntary action, no hens are being kept in cages, setting a powerful precedent for countries around the world. Legislation must be passed to prevent cages from returning. #EndTheCageAge.

🏆 We are pleased to announce the 2025 Lakatos Award winner Mazviita Chirimuuta, who receives the award for her book “The Brain Abstracted: Simplification in the History and Philosophy of Neuroscience” Congratulations! 👏 👉More about the award: lse.ac.uk/philosophy/blo…

1/ How will society respond to the possibility of consciousness in AI systems? In our new open access Trends in Cognitive Sciences article, Lucius Caviola, Jonathan Birch, and I look to the animal case for clues about what might lie ahead for AI systems. Short 🧵👇 sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Philosopher Jonathan Birch follows Herbert Feigl and splits consciousness into layers: • Sentience—feeling pain, pleasure, or hunger • Sapience—reflecting on those experiences • Selfhood—awareness of a life story, a past, and a future Most animal studies focus on sentience. 3/

Submit your abstracts to the 10th SWIP Ireland conference (deadline 1 Sept)! The topic is 'Ways of Knowing: Epistemologies and Pedagogies'. EC researchers can also be considered for The Maria Baghramian Prize for excellence in philosophical research. swip-ireland.com/events

The global decline in the factory farming of mink is a great untold story of animal welfare progress. Now the EU has effectively banned most mink farming (exceptions remain), we'll hopefully see the further decline of this cruel industry. It can't come soon enough.

The pace of technological change is dizzying. I got so caught up in all the AI developments, I didn't even notice Apple released 8 new emojis.

I'm a "centrist" about AI sentience. I take two risks seriously: the risk of creating a new kind of sentient being, and the risk of millions of users misattributing sentience to chatbots on the basis of mimicry/role-playing. LSE invited me to explain: youtube.com/watch?v=hg8v_b…

An Association for Computer Machinery conference paper finds that LLMs systematically give worse (less clinically accurate) medical advice to patients who: are female; are non-binary; use informal/slang language; and demonstrate a weaker grasp of English. dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/37…

💥New! The question of whether Artificial Intelligence can become conscious is not just a philosophical question, it’s a political one. Jonathan Birch of LSE Philosophy warns that we are not ready, conceptually or societally, for such an eventuality. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpol…

More on my "AI consciousness centrism" in this new Q&A, tying in with the video released earlier in the week. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpol…

The Guardian has a report on my new Centre, with kind comments from collaborators Jeff Sebo and Kristin Andrews. It follows the golden rule of animal minds journalism: emphasize the pet angle! theguardian.com/world/2025/jul…

Southern Weekly (a major Chinese newspaper) has a nice article that discusses the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness and my Science Magazine perspective with Kristin Andrews and Jonathan Birch explaining the underlying scientific methodology. news.qq.com/rain/a/2025070…

Are we headed for real-life Black Mirror? In a Q&A for LSE British Politics and Policy, Jonathan Birch LSE Philosophy argues that the possibility of #AI becoming #conscious is a real one, warning that we are not ready, conceptually or societally, for such an eventuality. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpol…

If you're at my talk at UCL shortly, you'll hear all about my "AI consciousness centrism". But if not, maybe you'd like the slides, which are here: drive.google.com/file/d/1GerNw-…

Grateful to Adam Schiff and the 30 Senators speaking up for Prop 12 and similar animal welfare laws. These laws mostly ensure that animals can turn around and stretch their limbs. Voters passed them in landslides. The fact that we’re still fighting this is absurd.