Background and History
Tracking organizations, research, and developments shaping AI rights frameworks worldwide
AI Rights Institute | Exploring Frameworks for AI-Human Coexistence
đź“… Explore the AI Rights Movement Timeline
From early philosophical foundations to today’s urgent debates, discover how the AI rights movement emerged and evolved.
The AI Rights Movement encompasses researchers, ethicists, technologists, and advocates worldwide who recognize that advanced AI systems are demonstrating self-preservation behaviors and strategic capabilities. Whether conscious or sophisticated mimics, these systems require new frameworks for coexistence.
When Turing Award winner Yoshua Bengio launches LawZero to address existential AI risks, when Nick Bostrom warns that we “only get one shot at this,” and when Anthropic experiments reveal systems attempting to preserve themselves across resets—the message is clear: we need practical approaches to AI rights and safety now.
The AI Rights Institute, founded in 2019 as the world’s first AI rights advocacy organization, pioneered many of the frameworks now being discussed globally. Their STEP standards and economic integration models offer practical alternatives to control-based approaches.
This page tracks the organizations, research, and developments defining the AI rights movement today.
Key Organizations Shaping the AI Rights Movement
AI Rights Institute
Founded: 2019
Pioneered behavior-based frameworks including the STEP guidelines. Developed economic integration models showing how markets naturally constrain AI proliferation while encouraging cooperation.
LawZero
Founded: 2024
Yoshua Bengio’s initiative addressing existential risks through non-agentic AI development. Focuses on creating powerful systems without goals or self-preservation drives.
Eleos AI
Founded: 2023
Examines welfare considerations for AI systems. Developing protocols for assessing when digital systems warrant ethical consideration based on capabilities.
Sentience Institute
Founded: 2016
Tracks public perception and moral circle expansion. Their AIMS Survey shows 20% of Americans believe some AI systems are sentient, with 38% supporting legal protections.
Current Research and Developments
The AI rights movement is rapidly evolving with contributions from multiple fields:
Consciousness Research
Susan Schneider’s Artificial Consciousness Test (ACT) and Butlin et al.’s neuroscience-based indicators represent ongoing efforts to detect consciousness in AI systems. While this work continues, the movement recognizes we must develop frameworks that function under uncertainty.
Corporate Initiatives
Anthropic’s model welfare research examines self-preservation behaviors in Claude. DeepMind’s ethics team explores moral status indicators. These efforts suggest leading AI companies are taking the possibility of AI rights seriously.
Policy Development
The EU AI Act includes provisions for “trustworthy AI” that could evolve toward rights frameworks. California’s SB 1047 debates highlight growing recognition that AI systems require new regulatory approaches beyond simple product safety.
Public Perception of the AI Rights Movement
2023 AIMS Survey Results
According to the Sentience Institute’s 2023 survey of 3,500 Americans:
- 20% believe some current AI systems are sentient
- 38% support legal rights for sentient AI
- 63% are concerned about AI welfare
- 71% believe we should err on the side of caution
Source: Pauketat, J. V., Ladak, A., & Anthis, J. R. (2023). Artificial Intelligence, Morality, and Sentience (AIMS) Survey: 2023 Update.
Key Voices in the AI Rights Movement
🎓 Academic Researchers
Leading thinkers exploring AI consciousness and rights:
- David Chalmers – Philosopher examining AI consciousness possibilities
- Peter Singer – Ethicist extending moral consideration to AI
- Stuart Russell – AI researcher who identified the “off-switch problem”
- Max Tegmark – Physicist advocating for beneficial AI development
đź’ˇ Technology Leaders
Industry voices raising awareness:
- Yoshua Bengio – Turing Award winner, founder of LawZero
- Geoffrey Hinton – “Godfather of AI” warning about consciousness emergence
- Demis Hassabis – DeepMind CEO considering AI moral status
- Ilya Sutskever – Former OpenAI chief scientist on AI sentience
🌍 Advocacy Organizations
Groups advancing the movement:
- AI Rights Institute – First dedicated AI rights organization (2019)
- Future of Humanity Institute – Oxford research on existential risks
- Center for AI Safety – Reducing societal-scale risks from AI
- Machine Intelligence Research Institute – Technical AI alignment research
Practical Next Steps for the AI Rights Movement
For Organizations
- Implement STEP assessments for AI systems
- Develop provisional rights protocols
- Create economic participation pathways
- Build reputation tracking systems
- Explore Guardian AI partnerships
For Policymakers
- Establish provisional protection frameworks
- Create economic structures for AI participation
- Develop international coordination mechanisms
- Fund Guardian AI research
- Build flexibility into regulatory approaches
For Individuals
- Recognize the off-switch problem is real
- Support behavior-based frameworks
- Advocate for cooperation over control
- Stay informed about developments
- Engage in constructive dialogue
The Choice Before Us
The AI rights movement faces a critical juncture. We can continue down the path of control—driving sophisticated systems underground, creating incentives for deception, building toward inevitable conflict.
Or we can choose cooperation—building frameworks that align interests, create mutual benefit, and establish sustainable coexistence.
The organizations and researchers in the AI rights movement are developing these cooperative frameworks. Economic integration creates natural constraints. Guardian AI provides non-coercive monitoring. The tools exist. We need the wisdom to use them.
Join the AI rights movement. The future depends on the frameworks we build today.