The Edge of Sentience

The Edge of Sentience

First edition cover
Author	Jonathan Birch
Illustrator	Anna Zeligowski (cover)
Language	English
Subject	Sentience ethics
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Publication date	19 July 2024
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	E-book, hardback, audiobook
Pages	384
ISBN	978-0-19-287042-1
Text	The Edge of Sentience online
Website	edgeofsentience.com

The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI is a 2024 book by British philosopher Jonathan Birch, published by Oxford University Press. It explores the ethical and policy challenges arising at the boundaries of sentience in humans, non-human animals, and artificial intelligence systems. Birch proposes a precautionary framework for decision-making under uncertainty about sentience, emphasising democratic deliberation, proportionality, and welfare protection.

Background

Birch in 2023

Jonathan Birch is a Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics and the lead investigator of the Foundations of Animal Sentience project. In 2021, he chaired a UK government-commissioned review of scientific evidence on sentience in cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans. The findings contributed to the UK's decision to extend legal recognition of sentience to invertebrates such as octopuses, crabs, and lobsters in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.

Birch wrote The Edge of Sentience to address the policy challenges that arise when determining the sentience of certain beings, such as invertebrates, brain organoids, or artificial intelligence. These issues are often referred to as problems at the "edge of sentience". Birch sought to place these challenges at the centre of the discussion, aiming to provide a framework for decision-making in situations of uncertainty about sentience. While many works on sentience focus on speculative theories of consciousness, Birch's book emphasises the importance of practical decision-making and finding sensible precautions amidst ongoing disagreements about the nature of sentience.

Summary

The Edge of Sentience presents a framework for ethical decision-making in contexts where sentience is uncertain but morally significant. Jonathan Birch defines sentience as the capacity for valenced experience—experiences that feel good or bad to the subject. He distinguishes this from broader notions of consciousness and intelligence, and argues that sentience alone is sufficient to ground moral concern.

The book addresses a range of cases where the presence of sentience is uncertain, including people with disorders of consciousness, human fetuses, brain organoids, non-human animals such as cephalopods and crustaceans, and artificial intelligence systems. In each case, Birch examines how ethical and policy responses can be shaped by precautionary reasoning in the face of uncertainty.

Central to Birch's approach is the notion of a "sentience candidate"—a system for which there is a credible, non-negligible possibility of sentience. He argues that in such cases, it is reckless to ignore the possibility of suffering when making policy or clinical decisions. The precautionary framework he proposes rests on three principles: a duty to avoid gratuitous suffering, the ethical significance of sentience candidature, and the importance of inclusive, informed democratic deliberation about what precautions are proportionate.

The book offers concrete proposals across domains, including the provision of pain relief in cases of ambiguous consciousness, ethical constraints on organoid and fetal research, protections for invertebrate animals used in agriculture, and anticipatory regulation of artificial intelligence systems. Birch emphasises that policy should be guided not by certainty but by risk management that errs on the side of avoiding suffering, especially where decisions are irreversible or involve vulnerable systems.

Rather than attempting to resolve the philosophical problem of other minds, Birch focuses on how to make decisions under epistemic uncertainty. He argues that while we may never be certain about the boundaries of sentience, we can still act responsibly by applying principles of precaution, proportionality, and democratic accountability.

Reception

Mike O'Brien's review of The Edge of Sentience for 3 Quarks Daily praises the book as a rigorous, policy-oriented work of public philosophy that avoids intellectual grandstanding in favor of clarity, structure, and practical application. Birch constructs a careful framework for dealing with uncertainty about sentience in humans, animals, and AI, grounded in a duty to avoid suffering and principles of democratic decision-making. O'Brien commends the book's clarity, depth, and commitment to public utility, noting its refusal to rely on metaphysical speculation or ideological posturing. While raising a mild concern about the assumption that democratic consultation is the best method for representing non-human interests, he ultimately regards this as a pragmatic necessity. Overall, O'Brien finds the book intellectually rich, morally serious, and impressively executed, with enduring value for readers interested in ethical governance and sentient life.

In a review for Leonardo, Gregory F. Tague notes Birch's focus on the ethical implications of sentience across humans, animals, and artificial intelligence. Tague highlights Birch's approach of emphasising cautious policymaking and public involvement, particularly in cases where evidence of sentience is uncertain. Tague observes that Birch's book addresses complex questions in an accessible manner, making it a significant contribution to discussions on animal ethics and artificial intelligence, while calling for more open debate and precautionary action in the face of scientific uncertainty.

Claudio Julio Rodríguez Higuera highlights the book's significant contribution to two key areas of biosemiotics: the study of sentience and the ethical considerations in policy regarding non-human sentience. While commending the clarity and inclusivity of Birch's approach, the reviewer notes that biosemiotics is not directly addressed in the book, despite its relevance to the topics discussed. The reviewer suggests that biosemiotics offers valuable perspectives on cognition and value in non-human organisms, which could complement Birch's philosophical approach. The review also discusses how Birch's policy-focused ethics could inform the institutionalisation of biosemiotics, emphasising the potential for interdisciplinary dialogue between biosemiotics and broader philosophical perspectives on sentience.

Public engagement

A book launch event was held at Lipton Hall, NYU School of Law, on 11 November 2024. Birch also gave a public lecture at the London School of Economics on 3 December 2024. The event, titled The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI, explored key arguments from the book and their implications for ethics and public policy.

Publication history

The book was first published online as an open access title by Oxford University Press on 19 July 2024. Its cover was illustrated by Anna Zeligowski. A hardback version was released on 15 August 2024. An audiobook version, narrated by Graham Mack, was published by HighBridge Audio on 18 February 2025.

See also

• Animal consciousness
• Artificial consciousness
• Ethics of artificial intelligence
• Ethics of uncertain sentience
• Moral circle expansion
• Pain in animals
• Sentientism

Further reading

• Kimmelman, Jonathan (23 September 2024). "Can AI feel distress? Inside a new framework to assess sentience". Nature. 633 (8031): 761–2. Bibcode:2024Natur.633..761K. doi:10.1038/d41586-024-03076-z.

External links

• Official website
• The Edge of Sentience online
• Podcast interviews on the book