Machine intelligence · Welfare · Moral consideration
Before we know.
How should
we prepare?
Questions about machine experience remain open. The choices we make while we investigate them deserve careful thought.
Start with preparedness
A place to begin
Take the question seriously.
Keep the answer open.
Before Certainty is an independent, developing resource on machine welfare and moral uncertainty. It brings together research, philosophical arguments, and meaningful disagreements about possible welfare in machine intelligence.
Our starting point is a question: what would responsible preparation look like while the evidence is uncertain? This site makes no claim that current systems are conscious or capable of suffering; nor does it assume that they are not.
Three ways in
Begin with the question that interests you.
Why prepare?
Consider the costs of waiting, the risks of mistaken assumptions, and the case for proportionate action.
The ethical question 02What can we learn?
Look at what researchers investigate, what their methods can show, and where interpretation begins.
Research & evidence 03Read the originals
Explore six starting points, including substantial skeptical arguments and the limits of each source.
The reading listA guiding distinction
What we observe.
What we infer.
What we choose to do.
These are different kinds of claims. Keeping them visible makes room for better questions, fairer disagreement, and revision.
Read our editorial principles