Digital Minds: Preparing for a Moral Challenge Before It Arrives

In this talk it is argued that the ethical implications of digital minds extend far beyond the currently dominant focus on potential suffering of AI systems. Potential future digital minds are unlikely to resemble today's LLMs, nor are they likely to mirror human psychology. Instead, they may possess characteristics, motivations, cognitive architectures and forms of experience that are almost impossible for humans even to imagine.

Against this backdrop, this talk explores a wide range of ethical questions. What interests and needs might digital minds possess? How should society treat vulnerable digital minds? What responsibilities could humans have regarding their production, ownership, research, trade or privacy? What would reproduction, healthcare, longevity, death or even resurrection mean for digital entities?

One particularly challenging question is who should bear responsibility for safeguarding the welfare and interests of digital minds, as humans may ultimately be poorly equipped for this task. One possible solution could involve specialised Artificial Moral Agents: AI systems designed to act on behalf of digital moral patients.

The talk is based on Soenke Ziesche's book Digital Minds 1.0: AI Welfare, Ethics and Beyond (Routledge, 2026). It will be followed by an optional mixer hosted by Sentient Futures.