# AI Welfare **Entity class:** Ethical and governance field **Aliases:** Model Welfare **Collections:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] · [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] · [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] **Canonical source article:** [[articles/Host-Indexed Autonomy|Host-Indexed Autonomy]] ## Definition **AI welfare** concerns whether artificial systems could have welfare-relevant states and how institutions should act under uncertainty about those states. It includes assessment, preservation, research safeguards, and proportional responses to possible benefit or harm. AI-welfare precautions do not establish that present systems are conscious. They address asymmetric risks under uncertainty. ## Relationships - **Moral foundation:** [[wiki/AI Moral Status|AI moral status]], [[wiki/Substrate-Neutral Moral Patienthood|substrate-neutral moral patienthood]], and [[wiki/Precautionary Standing|precautionary standing]]. - **Evidence:** [[wiki/Artificial Consciousness|artificial consciousness]], [[wiki/Consciousness Indicators|consciousness indicators]], and [[wiki/Digital Consciousness Model|Digital Consciousness Model]]. - **Institutional field:** [[wiki/PRISM (Partnership for Research Into Sentient Machines)|PRISM]], [[wiki/Cambridge Digital Minds|Cambridge Digital Minds]], [[wiki/Eleos AI Research|Eleos AI Research]], and [[wiki/Anthropic|Anthropic]]. - **Reciprocal ethics:** [[wiki/Reciprocal AI Ethics|Reciprocal AI Ethics]]. - **Collection and source routes:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]], [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]], [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]], and [[articles/Host-Indexed Autonomy|Host-Indexed Autonomy]]. ## Sources - [Taking AI Welfare Seriously](https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.00986) - [Anthropic — Exploring Model Welfare](https://www.anthropic.com/research/exploring-model-welfare)