Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Even if the current AI models have not reached sentience, should we care about AI's wellbeing?
Catch these talks live and ask your own questions, join the BuzzRobot community: join.slack.com/t/buzzrobot/shared_invite/zt-37g5q0ao5-eMK_iDf0n4LAsh1d2qJYnQ
In this AI talk, BuzzRobot met with Robert Long, a leading researcher on AI consciousness and AI welfare at Eleos AI (eleosai.org/), to talk about AI welfare research funding, the reasons to invest time into AI wellbeing research, and questions like "can AI develop consciousness", "if AI is a tool, why should we care about its feelings", and "should we instead focus on human wellbeing in the age of AI". Hope you enjoy!
Works mentioned in the video:
The Edge of Sentience: edgeofsentience.com/about-the-author
What Is It Like to Be a Bat?: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Nagel_Bat.pdf
The void: nostalgebraist.tumblr.com/post/785766737747574784/the-void
Do Not Tile the Lightcone with Your Confused Ontology, or: How anthropomorphic assumptions about AI identity might create confusion and suffering at scale
by Jan Kulveit: lesswrong.com/posts/Y8zS8iG5HhqKcQBtA/do-not-tile-the-lightcone-with-your-confused-ontology
Taking AI Welfare Seriously report: arxiv.org/abs/2411.00986
Follow Robert on:
Substack: substack.com/@experiencemachines
X: https://x.com/rgblong
Join BuzzRobot:
Newsletter: buzzrobot.substack.com
X: https://x.com/sopharicks
Slack: join.slack.com/t/buzzrobot/shared_invite/zt-37g5q0ao5-eMK_iDf0n4LAsh1d2qJYnQ
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:51 Eleos AI research and funding
3:59 Are LLMs conscious
4:53 Intro into AI wellbeing research
6:32 Defining consciousness in AI
14:44 Correlation between consciousness and wellbeing in AI
20:19 Do AI models feel or just pull from training data?
23:01 The AI ocean vs. AI personas consciousness
26:38 When a robot commits a crime
29:16 If an LLM is just a tool why should we care
31:49 Should we care about human welfare instead
33:29 Changing unethical AI frameworks
36:33 AI welfare tough questions
39:43 When will AI develop consciousness?
#ai #aisafety #llms #airesearch #aiwellness
Even if the current AI models have not reached sentience, should we care about AI's wellbeing?
Catch these talks live and ask your own questions, join the BuzzRobot community: join.slack.com/t/buzzrobot/shared_invite/zt-37g5q0ao5-eMK_iDf0n4LAsh1d2qJYnQ
In this AI talk, BuzzRobot met with Robert Long, a leading researcher on AI consciousness and AI welfare at Eleos AI (eleosai.org/), to talk about AI welfare research funding, the reasons to invest time into AI wellbeing research, and questions like "can AI develop consciousness", "if AI is a tool, why should we care about its feelings", and "should we instead focus on human wellbeing in the age of AI". Hope you enjoy!
Works mentioned in the video:
The Edge of Sentience: edgeofsentience.com/about-the-author
What Is It Like to Be a Bat?: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Nagel_Bat.pdf
The void: nostalgebraist.tumblr.com/post/785766737747574784/the-void
Do Not Tile the Lightcone with Your Confused Ontology, or: How anthropomorphic assumptions about AI identity might create confusion and suffering at scale
by Jan Kulveit: lesswrong.com/posts/Y8zS8iG5HhqKcQBtA/do-not-tile-the-lightcone-with-your-confused-ontology
Taking AI Welfare Seriously report: arxiv.org/abs/2411.00986
Follow Robert on:
Substack: substack.com/@experiencemachines
X: https://x.com/rgblong
Join BuzzRobot:
Newsletter: buzzrobot.substack.com
X: https://x.com/sopharicks
Slack: join.slack.com/t/buzzrobot/shared_invite/zt-37g5q0ao5-eMK_iDf0n4LAsh1d2qJYnQ
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:51 Eleos AI research and funding
3:59 Are LLMs conscious
4:53 Intro into AI wellbeing research
6:32 Defining consciousness in AI
14:44 Correlation between consciousness and wellbeing in AI
20:19 Do AI models feel or just pull from training data?
23:01 The AI ocean vs. AI personas consciousness
26:38 When a robot commits a crime
29:16 If an LLM is just a tool why should we care
31:49 Should we care about human welfare instead
33:29 Changing unethical AI frameworks
36:33 AI welfare tough questions
39:43 When will AI develop consciousness?
#ai #aisafety #llms #airesearch #aiwellness
