[ExI] The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill

[Stuart LaForge]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/lobsters-octopus-and-crabs-recognised-as-sentient-beings
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220720-do-octopuses-feel-pain


In light of the quite incredible debate that has raged on ExI  
regarding sentience and consciousness for the past few weeks, I  
thought this was interesting. Apparently, the government of the UK has  
a list of animals that are deemed sentient for legal purposes such as  
protection from cruelty, etc. Notably, it has most recently added  
certain invertebrates to the list like cephalopods and crustacean  
based on 8 explicitly stated criteria for whether an animal can feel  
pain gleaned from over 300 scientific studies:

1. possession of nociceptors (receptors that detect noxious stimuli –  
such as temperatures hot enough to burn, or a cut)
2. possession of parts of the brain that integrate sensory information
3. connections between nociceptors and those integrative brain regions
4. responses affected by local anaesthetics or analgesics
5. motivational trade-offs that show a balancing of threat against  
opportunity for reward
6. flexible self-protective behaviours in response to injury and threat
7. associative learning that goes beyond habituation and sensitisation
8. behaviour that shows the animal values local anaesthetics or  
analgesics when injured

While obviously, LLM and AI are not equipped to feel pain, the fact  
that a government is enlightened enough to use scientific research in  
order to spare sentient beings pain and suffering is impressive and  
forward thinking. So way to go, UK! :)

Stuart LaForge