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AI designed to benefit animals, humans, …
Unintentional: direct

Intentional: socially accepted/legal

Harm to Nonhuman Animals from AI: a Systematic Account and Framework

Coghlan & Parker (2023)

SourceDOI
Category
Risk Domain
6Socioeconomic & Environmental
6.6Environmental harm

The development and operation of AI systems causing environmental harm, such as through energy consumption of data centers, or material and carbon footprints associated with AI hardware.

"AI designed to impact animals in harmful ways that reflect and amplify existing social values or are legal"(p. 12)

Entity— Who or what caused the harm

Human

Due to a decision or action made by humans

AI system

Due to a decision or action made by an AI system

Other

Due to some other reason or is ambiguous

Intent— Whether the harm was intentional or accidental

Intentional

Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal

Unintentional

Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal

Other

Without clearly specifying the intentionality

Timing— Whether the risk is pre- or post-deployment

Pre-deployment

Occurring before the AI is deployed

Post-deployment

Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed

Other

Without a clearly specified time of occurrence

Supporting Evidence (2)

1.
Example: "AI-enabled precision livestock farming enables greater confinement and harmful treatment"(p. 12)
2.
"While AI is not generally designed to intentionally harm humans—autonomous kill- ing machines being a notable exception (Noone & Noone, 2015)—deliberate ani- mal harm is already routine and entrenched. Intentional harms are often inflicted on animals for purposes such as food and fibre production, scientific research, enter- tainment, and companionship (Fraser & MacRae, 2011)."(p. 25)

Other risks from Coghlan & Parker (2023) (11)

Intentional: socially condemned/illegal

6.6 Environmental harm
HumanIntentionalPost-deployment

Intentional: socially condemned/illegal > AI intentionally designed and used to harm animals in ways that contradict social values or are illegal

6.6 Environmental harm
HumanIntentionalPost-deployment

Intentional: socially condemned/illegal > AI designed to benefit animals, humans, or ecosystems is intentionally abused to harm animals in ways that contradict social values or are illegal

6.6 Environmental harm
HumanIntentionalPost-deployment

Unintentional: direct

6.6 Environmental harm
OtherUnintentionalOther

Unintentional: direct > AI is designed in a way that shows ignorant, reckless, or prejudiced lack of consideration for its impact on animals

6.6 Environmental harm
HumanUnintentionalPre-deployment

Unintentional: direct > AI harms animals due to mistake or misadventure in the way the AI operates in practice

6.6 Environmental harm
AI systemUnintentionalPost-deployment
View all 11 risks from this paper →