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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n AI<\/a> researchers are set to explore<\/a> how humans<\/a> could \u201cspeak\u201d with their pets,<\/a> as the first scientific institution focused on investigating animals<\/a>\u2019 consciousness<\/a> is established.<\/p>\n The \u00a34million Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience, which is based at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE<\/a>), is set to launch its work researching non-human animals<\/a> on 30 September, using experts from across a range of disciplines.<\/p>\n Among its projects is one set to explore how AI <\/a>might be able to help humans<\/a> \u201cspeak\u201d with their pets<\/a> \u2013 as well as what could go wrong, and how to avoid the potential dangers.<\/p>\n Professor Jonathan Birch, the inaugural director of the centre, told the Guardian: \u201cWe like our pets to display human characteristics and with the advent of AI<\/a>, the ways in which your pet will be able to speak to you is going to be taken to a whole new level.<\/p>\n \u201cBut AI often generates made-up responses that please the user rather than being anchored in objective reality. This could be a disaster if applied to pets\u2019 welfare.<\/p>\n \u201cWe urgently need frameworks governing responsible, ethical AI use in relation to animals. At the moment, there\u2019s a total lack of regulation in this sphere. The centre wants to develop ethical guidelines that will be recognised globally.\u201d<\/p>\n The centre is set to work alongside non-governmental organisations with a view to developing guidance and research that could then be lobbied for globally.<\/p>\n Jeff Sebo, the director of the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection, at New York University, told the newspaper that issues of animal sentience and welfare, the impact of AI on animals, as well as public attitudes towards animals are \u201camong the most important, difficult and neglected issues that we face as a society\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHumans share the world with millions of species and quintillions of individual animals, and we affect animals all over the world whether we like it or not,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n