How to Navigate Uncertainty About AI Consciousness

A new paper on arXiv (2608.19215v1) proposes shifting from intractable questions of AI consciousness to tractable questions of AI valence to guide ethical treatment of potentially sentient AI. The author argues that assessing whether an AI has states that would constitute valenced experiences if it were conscious can ground a responsible approach to development, avoiding the dilemma of risking harm to sentient entities or wasting resources on insentient machines.

arXiv:2608.19215v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Given deep uncertainty about the possibility of artificial consciousness, it is unclear how we should treat potentially sentient AI. On the one hand, we could assume insentience but risk doing terrible harms to entities that deserve moral standing. On the other hand, we could assume sentience and instead risk wasting resources on insentient machines. The intractability of questions around AI consciousness mean that this dilemma is hard to escape. I suggest a way out of that shifts from intractable questions of AI consciousness to tractable questions of AI valence. Specifically, we can assess whether an AI has states that would constitute valenced experiences if it were conscious. I show how this is sufficient to ground a responsible approach to the development of potentially conscious AI.