What is the impact of AI on animals? Experts say it has both positive and negative aspects, and more attention is needed. This was the main point of a George Washington University webinar on “Artificial Intelligence, Animals and Ethics,” presented by GW Law’s Animal Law and Science Project.
The webinar was recorded and may be viewed at this link on the GW Animal Law Program’s YouTube channel. It was hosted and moderated by Joan E. Schaffner, associate professor at GW Law and co-director of the GW Animal Legal Education Initiative (ALEI). Panelists were Diego Plaza, founder of the Center for Animal Law Studies of Chile (CEDA Chile) and the Interspecies Justice Foundation, and Yolanda Eisenstein, president of the Animal Law Commission of the Paris-based Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA) and the author of several books on related topics.
Each guest expert spoke for about 20 minutes before a brief question-and-answer period. Kicking off the discussion, Eisenstein gave an overall view of the current landscape.
“AI is impacting animals and humans and it doesn’t seem like anybody is at the wheel,” Eisenstein said.
She quickly sketched the historical development of AI, revolutionized in 2022 by the introduction of generative AI, which can produce language, text and images. The next step is artificial general intelligence (AGI), which matches or exceeds human intelligence. (There is some disagreement about whether AGI is here, or soon to arrive.) The next stage, not yet existent, is sentient AI, which can feel and experience emotions. After reminding her audience that the 17th-century philosopher René Descartes viewed animals as mere machines, she said that the recent introduction of mechanical animals such as robotic dogs brings us full circle in a journey that suggests the destabilizing nature of AI.
“The ground is sort of shifting,” Eisenstein said. “We’re not really sure what to do.”
The core idea she wanted to convey, she said, is that “AI changes how we see animals” and, as a consequence, our relations with them. There are AI systems that separate animals and their human caregivers—drones that walk dogs, and robotic toys that throw balls for our dogs—as well as companion robot pets. Some zoos are even testing robot animals. One of the biggest technological changes taking place, she said, is the decoding of animal communications in species such as whales, monkeys and birds.
“If I can talk to a whale, does that change my relationship with it? Of course,” she said. “These are some things that, as animal advocates, we need to be thinking about. Animal protection is at the heart of what we do, and AI has destabilized that.”
The legal and ethical issues raised by the new technologies have not been fully examined, she said. For example, is it ethical to deprive animals of the human companionship they crave by having a robot walk them? And is the research being done on animals in order to produce new tools invasive? It’s widely known that AI reflects the biases of its creators; it is time, she said, for developers to consider the biases of humans toward animals.
“I think that business as usual, or a wait-and-see attitude is out of the question,” Eisenstein said. “We need to know how AI is helping animals, how AI is hurting animals.” Members of the animal protection community need to make their voices heard by technology developers and policymakers.
“Stay connected to the natural world,” she said. “I love technology. It doesn’t talk back. You don't have to feed it. It doesn't get its feelings hurt. It’s wonderful.” That's precisely why staying in touch with nature is vital, she said.
While AI can bring some benefits to animals, Diego Plaza said, it also has a “dark side.”
Plaza looked at potential benefits of AI to animals as well as its potential harms. Benefits include monitoring animal welfare with sensors and cameras to detect stress, illness and other problems affecting animals, he said. But it’s important to ask if such tools prioritize animal welfare or human economic goals.
AI offers useful tools for protecting ecosystems, he said. For example, Rainforest Connection detects illegal logging in real time and alerts authorities before irreparable damage is done. Elephant Listening Project tracks elephant migration and identifies threats from ivory poachers.
“From an ethical standpoint, these applications represent a step forward,” Plaza said, “because they minimize human interference while providing critical information to safeguard animal populations.” But even these examples are not free from concerns, he added—for example, around the exploitation of wildlife data for commercial purposes.
While AI can reduce the reliance on animals in scientific and medical research, Plaza said, large data sets gleaned from animal research might be needed to create the required algorithms.
AI supports veganism and animal rights activism by assisting with the development of plant-based alternatives to animal-based foods, he said, and can also empower advocacy efforts.
In short, AI can be beneficial when guided by ethical considerations and sustainability principles. But there is also a “dark side of AI,” Plaza warned. It can be used to maximize animal growth rates and production efficiency, often at the expense of animal welfare. Automated slaughter systems prioritize speed over minimizing suffering.
“Technology is not neutral,” Plaza said, “but protects the priorities of those who design and use it.” The path forward, he said, should be mapped with “vigilance and attention.”
