AI is transforming animal welfare both as a monitoring and welfare-improvement tool, and as a topic of welfare concern in its own right as AI systems become more sophisticated.
AI represents a dual welfare opportunity: as a tool for monitoring and improving the welfare of biological animals, and as a topic requiring welfare consideration in its own right as AI systems approach and potentially exceed the cognitive complexity of sentient animals. On the first front, the welfare gains from automated disease detection, precision feeding systems, and stress monitoring are achievable now and represent significant near-term welfare improvements. On the second, the question of AI moral status is one that animal welfare philosophers are well-positioned to engage with — the arguments about sentience, experience, and moral consideration developed for animals are directly applicable.