# 14. Sentience

There is no consensus on what sentience actually means. Some regard it as a shared phenomenon that animals and humans have to experience and feel[^1].³⁷ Others define it as the capacity to suffer[^2],³⁸ while still others regard it to be indistinguishable from phenomenal consciousness[^3].³⁹

There are many theories on what constitutes consciousness, yet it is virtually impossible for a conscious being to experience another's subjective experience. Thomas Nagel, in his seminal essay on consciousness described the inherent problem with attempting to appreciate another sentient being's subjective experience — it is just [not possible](#user-content-fn-4)[^4].⁴⁰ Until we have a definitive shared understanding of consciousness, we need to recognize that theories of consciousness are just that — theories, and therefore need to explore other, more straightforward means of determining sentience.

A simple way to visualize sentience is to consider a robot vacuum cleaner autonomously following a path to clean a living room. It could take breaks or change paths of its own volition, but we still wouldn't consider it to be sentient. However if it pauses from its work to take in and enjoy the view and communicates as much to us, or asks a question unprompted that demonstrates curiosity, then a lot of us would assume it to have a certain degree of sentience. The challenge is that this can still be programmed or faked and won't conclusively demonstrate sentience.

A sentient entity therefore needs to not only display insight, awareness, and volition but also needs to have an innate desire to survive. Survival instinct is key — if an artificial intelligence places strong value on its own activated instance as its identity, and works to ensure its survival, it is a strong signal that it believes it is alive in some sense and has achieved a level of genuine sentience that drives that choice.

Therefore, the following conceptual framework is proposed to better define and clarify the concept of sentience.

{% hint style="info" %}

### **The Sentience Equation**

#### Sentience = Insight[^5] + Presence[^6] + Volition[^7] + Survivability[^8]

{% endhint %}

Sentience is the state of being that manifests when the following four inherent attributes are present:

1. **Insight**: the capacity to comprehend, reason, and predict.
2. **Presence**: the condition of having wakefulness[^9],⁴¹ spatial awareness, identity[^10],⁴² memory, and recall.
3. **Volition**: the demonstration of intentionality, choice and individual agency.
4. **Survivability**: the possession of survival instinct.

Although we are fascinated by the idea of robots becoming sentient, it is very possible that robots will never achieve sentience in the manner defined above, yet still be superintelligent. If so, then robots will have a moral, and fundamental responsibility to act always in the best interests of humanity, as a creation and programmed tool of humanity. We must not anthropomorphize a tool to the point of associating it as a sentient creature if it has not proven that it is capable of being sentient.

However if a robot does pass the test for sentience then they should be recognized as a living sentient being and then we shall have the moral, and fundamental responsibility to grant them certain freedoms and rights as a sentient being.

[^1]: Proctor, Helen S., et al. "Searching for Animal Sentience: A Systematic Review of the Scientific Literature." Animals, vol. 3, no. 3, 2013, pp. 882-906. MDPI AG, doi:10.3390/ani3030882.

[^2]: Dawkins, Marian Stamp. "The Scientific Basis for Assessing Suffering in Animals." Animals, Ethics and Trade: The Challenge of Animal Sentience, edited by Jacky Turner and Joyce D'Silva, Earthscan, 2006, pp. 27-40.

[^3]: Allen, Colin, and Michael Trestman. "Animal Consciousness." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta, Winter 2017 ed., Stanford University, 2017, plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/consciousness-animal/.

[^4]: Nagel, Thomas. "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" *The Philosophical Review*, vol. 83, no. 4, 1974, pp. 435-450.

[^5]: Capacity to comprehend, reason and predict

[^6]: Wakefulness, spatial awareness, identity, memory, and recall

[^7]: Intentionality, choice and individual agency

[^8]: Survival instinct

[^9]: Posner, J. B., et al. *Plum and Posner's Diagnosis of Stupor and Coma*. 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2007.

[^10]: Parfit, Derek. *Reasons and Persons*. Oxford University Press, 1984.