AGI and superintelligence scenarios

AI moral status inquiry and conditional welfare governance

This family of work asks whether AI systems could ever matter morally, and what an organisation should do while nobody knows. It makes no assumption that they do. AI companies need it so that hard questions get a considered answer, not a rushed one.

Demand is forming because capable systems keep prompting questions that staff, users and regulators ask, and most companies have no settled way to answer. Every role here is still a scenario, so hiring is early and speculative. The tricky part is finding people who can hold uncertainty without overclaiming in either direction. Strong candidates are rigorous and cautious, and they can write guidance an engineer or lawyer can use.

Scenario 4

Roles in this family

4 roles

ScenarioAI Moral Status ResearcherAn AI Moral Status Researcher would investigate what evidence could bear on whether AI systems have experiences or interests. The role depends on…ScenarioPossible AI Welfare Assessment SpecialistA possible future specialist who would design conditional assessments of AI welfare questions without assuming AI consciousness. It depends on how…ScenarioAI Moral-Uncertainty Governance SpecialistAn AI Moral-Uncertainty Governance Specialist would design options for how an organisation handles open questions about possible AI moral status. It…ScenarioPotential Digital Entity Rights Policy AnalystA Potential Digital Entity Rights Policy Analyst would assess legal and ethical options if institutions start to consider AI moral status. It…

Where the people come from

Potential pathway: philosophy of mind, cognitive science, ethics or research governance

Not to be confused with. No claim that AI is conscious or that welfare-relevant states can currently be measured.

Core skills

  • Experimental design
  • Technical communication
  • Frontier scenario analysis
  • Institutional and international coordination

Where it is used

  • Future general-purpose autonomous systems
  • Future superintelligent systems

Depends on a scenario

Institutional consideration of AI moral status

What AI would need to do
Credible evidence or sustained uncertainty prompts questions about possible AI experiences or interests.
What organisations would need to decide
Research bodies or legitimate institutions create formal assessment and governance processes.
What would rule it out
No credible evidence, consensus criteria or institutional mandate develops.

We give no date. The role becomes real if both conditions hold.

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