EA Forum Podcast (All audio) “Digital sentience funding opportunities: Support for applied work and research” by zdgroff, Longview Philanthropy
Summary
I’m excited to announce a “Digital Sentience Consortium” hosted by Longview Philanthropy, in collaboration with The Navigation Fund and Macroscopic Ventures, to support research and applied projects focused on the potential consciousness, sentience, moral status, and experiences of artificial intelligence systems. The opportunities include research fellowships, career transition fellowships, and a broad request for proposals for applied work on these topics.
For years, I’ve thought this area was seriously overlooked. It now has growing interest. Twenty-two out of 123 pages of Claude 4's model card are about its potential moral patienthood. Scientific experts increasingly say that near-term AI sentience is a real possibility; even the skeptical neuroscientist Anil Seth says, “it is unwise to dismiss the possibility altogether.” We’re hoping to bring new people and projects into the field to increase the chance that society deals with the possibility of digital sentience reasonably, and with concern for [...]
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Outline:
(00:14) Summary
(01:28) Motivation & Focus
(04:22) Three Funding Opportunities
(04:29) Research Fellowships on Digital Sentience
(05:30) Career Transition Fellowships on Digital Sentience
(06:26) Request for Proposals: Applied Work on Potential Digital Sentience and Society
(07:31) Application Process
(07:53) Contact
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First published:
May 28th, 2025
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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.