<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the EU has traditionally been more progressive than North America on scientific matters, it’s no surprise that their l</span><a href="http://acsqc.ca/content/comparison-cosmetics-regulations-canada-and-european-union"><span style="font-weight: 400;">egislation on animal sentience surpasses any in North America</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. For years, </span><a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120719-young-gorillas-juvenile-traps-snares-rwanda-science-fossey/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">study after study has shown us that animal intelligence is complex</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2017/06/08/531616366/what-goes-on-in-the-minds-of-spiders"><span style="font-weight: 400;">widespread</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. But these studies are likely superfluous to anyone who has lived with a pet. Many of us have observed firsthand a cat’s jealousy or a dog’s loneliness. Contrary to much of the twentieth century’s consensus on animal behavior, animals are not just food-driven automatons. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“For decades we have been </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/11/elephants-animal-welfare-why-do-we-deny-ignore-feelings-other-species"><span style="font-weight: 400;">admonished against anthropomorphism</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> – imbuing animals with human-type emotions such as sadness or love,” writes Carl Safina, Endowed Research Chair for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University, in The Guardian. “But, actually, humans have these emotions because other animals do as well.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And those “other animals” aren’t limited to domestic pets, of course. Other animals, especially other mammals, </span><a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150714-animal-dog-thinking-feelings-brain-science/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">experience emotions as diverse and complex as humans’.</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Scientists have observed dolphin mothers protecting and carrying their offsprings’ corpses for several days following death. The mothers’ pods have been seen to alter their own pace and behavior to support and accommodate the bereaved.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Vivid examples are easy to come by. </span><a href="http://ioniandolphinproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/0713062.pdf"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Large mammals are easier to study in the wild,</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and researchers in a variety of disciplines have studied both elephants and whales for decades, and have found that many populations of these animals have similar behaviors — and from that, we can extrapolate: emotions — surrounding death.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Elephants are known to keep close to dying family members, helping them stand after they’ve fallen, and guarding the ailing from predators after they have lain down to die. After the death, elephant families remain near the body for up to several days. Later, they return to the place of the death — almost a pilgrimage. They stroke their family member’s bones with their trunks. It’s not a stretch to think they’re remembering their loved one.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So why has there been such a push to deny the complex and deeply-felt reality of animals’ inner lives? Safina cites two reasons: first, humans’ historical desire to feel superior to all other creatures, and second, that acknowledging our fellow creatures as equal beings would require that we prioritize their needs and treatment.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And prioritizing their needs and treatment would require a sea change across every country and industry, from food and agriculture, to scientific research, to tourism, to fashion and home goods. In the words of Charles Darwin, “Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal.” </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So when futurists like Elon Musk warn of</span><a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/03/elon-musk-billion-dollar-crusade-to-stop-ai-space-x"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> conscience-free AI run amok </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">— “a fleet of artificial intelligence-enhanced robots capable of destroying mankind” — bear in mind what humans have done to beings we have considered inferior. Why should supercomputers recognize and respect our emotions, relationships, or sense of self when we have failed to respect our fellow creatures’?</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If Musk’s fears are realized, humanity must pray that the supercomputers show more mercy than we have.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As we creep ever closer to the singularity, technology experts and ethicists are exploring the question of what respect and consideration we owe to sentient computers. The hope is that by showing respect to supercomputers, they will in turn show respect to humans when their intelligence and capabilities far outstrip our own. But based on our own track record, how will we be able to convince supercomputers to respect humans? We haven’t been able to afford basic dignity and respect to the sentient beings who already share our planet.</span></p>
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