The Edge of Sentience
{{Short description|2024 book by Jonathan Birch}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name = The Edge of Sentience
| image = The Edge of Sentience.jpg
| author = Jonathan Birch
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| subject = {{Hlist|Sentience|ethics}}
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| pub_date = 19 July 2024
| media_type = E-book, hardback, audiobook
| pages = 384
| isbn = 978-0-19-287042-1
| website = {{URL|edgeofsentience.com}}
| external_url = https://academic.oup.com/book/57949
| caption = First edition cover
| illustrator = Anna Zeligowski (cover)
}}
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
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.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=The edge of sentience: risk and precaution in humans, other animals, and AI |url=https://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2024/12/202412031830/The-edge-of-sentience-risk-and-precaution-in-humans-other-animals-and-AI |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=London School of Economics and Political Science |language=en-GB}}
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.{{Cite web |last=Bekoff |first=Marc |author-link=Marc Bekoff |date=2024-11-27 |title=The Edge of Sentience: Why Drawing Lines Is So Difficult |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202411/the-edge-of-sentience-why-drawing-lines-is-so-difficult |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Psychology Today |language=en-US}}
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.{{Cite web |last=O'Brien |first=Mike |date=2025-01-12 |title=A Review Of Jonathan Birch's "The Edge Of Sentience" |url=https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2025/01/a-review-of-jonathan-birchs-the-edge-of-sentience.html |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=3 Quarks Daily |language=en-US}}
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.{{Cite web |last=Tague |first=Gregory F. |author-link=Gregory F. Tague |date=2024-12-01 |title=The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI |url=https://leonardo.info/review/2024/12/the-edge-of-sentience-risk-and-precaution-in-humans-other-animals-and-ai |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Leonardo |language=en}}
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.{{Cite journal |last=Rodríguez Higuera |first=Claudio Julio |date=2025-02-20 |title=The Metaethics of Meaning-Making: Jonathan Birch's the Edge of Sentience |journal=Biosemiotics |volume=18 |pages=177–185 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s12304-025-09595-0 |issn=1875-1342|doi-access=free }}
Public engagement
A book launch event was held at Lipton Hall, NYU School of Law, on 11 November 2024.{{Cite web |title=The Edge of Sentience by Jonathan Birch: Book Launch and Panel Discussion |url=https://wp.nyu.edu/consciousness/the-edge-of-sentience-by-jonathan-birch-book-launch-and-panel-discussion/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=NYU Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness |language=en-US}} 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.{{Citation |last=Birch |first=Jonathan |title=Personal Acknowledgements |date=2024-08-15 |work=The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI |pages=335–336 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/57949/chapter/475705609 |access-date=2025-04-22 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-287042-1 |author-link=Jonathan Birch (philosopher)}} A hardback version was released on 15 August 2024.{{Cite book |last=Birch |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Birch (philosopher) |date=2024-07-19 |title=The Edge of Sentience |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/57949?login=true |language=en |doi=10.1093/9780191966729.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-196672-9 }} An audiobook version, narrated by Graham Mack, was published by HighBridge Audio on 18 February 2025.{{Cite web |title=The Edge of Sentience |url=https://highbridgeaudio.com/theedgeofsentience.html |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=HighBridge Audio}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03076-z|author=Kimmelman, Jonathan|date=23 September 2024|title=Can AI feel distress? Inside a new framework to assess sentience|journal=Nature|volume=633|issue=8031 |pages=761–2|doi=10.1038/d41586-024-03076-z|bibcode=2024Natur.633..761K |url-access=subscription}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.edgeofsentience.com/}}
- [https://academic.oup.com/book/57949 The Edge of Sentience] online
- [https://www.edgeofsentience.com/press/category/Podcast+interviews Podcast interviews on the book]
{{Ethics}}
{{Animal welfare}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edge of Sentience, The}}
Category:2024 non-fiction books
Category:Books about consciousness
Category:Books in philosophy of technology
Category:Books in political philosophy
Category:Creative Commons-licensed books
Category:English non-fiction books
Category:English-language non-fiction books
Category:Non-fiction books about artificial intelligence
Category:Oxford University Press books