Anthropic has taken a step in artificial intelligence ethics by appointing Kyle Fish as their first dedicated AI welfare researcher, as noted by Transformer. Fish, who joined the company’s alignment science team in mid-September, will explore whether future AI systems might warrant moral consideration similar to humans and animals.
Model Welfare: What does it mean?
The newly created position focuses on investigating “model welfare” and tackles complex philosophical and technical questions about AI systems. Fish’s research examines which attributes might qualify an AI system for moral consideration and how companies could detect these characteristics.
In simple words, “model welfare” is a field exploring whether AI systems might deserve moral consideration similar to humans and animals. “Quite clearly, there is a real cause for concern here,” Fish stated. “This is something that it makes sense to take seriously as a possibility”. His work also involves developing practical steps to protect AI welfare if these systems develop signs of morality.
Fish’s Research Background
Before joining Anthropic, Fish co-authored a significant report arguing that AI systems may soon reach levels of consciousness or agency requiring moral consideration. The report emphasizes that AI welfare is not a distant concern but requires immediate attention from researchers and companies. “There is a realistic possibility that some AI systems will be conscious and/or robustly agentic, and thus morally significant, in the near future”, states the report, indicated the need to take action in order to explore and establish practices that will protect AI welfare.
Is this an Industry-Wide Movement?
This appointment reflects a broader trend in the AI industry, where new specialized positions, such as Chief AI Officers and AI researchers are rapidly emerging. Google DeepMind has recently advertised a similar position focusing on machine cognition and consciousness, while OpenAI has team members contributing to AI welfare research. Within Anthropic, several researchers, including safety researcher Ethan Perez and alignment lead Dario Amodei, have acknowledged the growing importance of AI welfare considerations.
Preparing for a Morally Complex AI Future
Fish’s work at Anthropic will focus on implementing frameworks to assess AI systems for consciousness and agency indicators. The research emphasizes that while it remains uncertain whether AI systems will reach moral relevance soon, the potential implications are significant enough to warrant immediate attention and research.
