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Suffering machines? A critical inquiry concerning the moral risks of creating an ‘organoid intelligence’
Örebro University, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences. Institute for Futures Studies, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5118-4124
2026 (English)In: Futures: The journal of policy, planning and futures studies, ISSN 0016-3287, E-ISSN 1873-6378, Vol. 176, article id 103758Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

What could happen in the future if AI technologies became sentient like human beings, thus capable of suffering and feeling existentially alienated? The question warrants serious consideration, especially in light of recent advances in biocomputing, where small human brain organoids have been cultivated that display a rudimentary form of sentience. Currently, researchers aim a tcreating complex networked interfaces where several brain organoids are interconnected with each other, to real-world input/output sensors, and to machine-learning models. This constitutes a first step in the development of an ‘organoid intelligence’ (OI) that could potentially improve future decision-making and be much more energy efficient. But what are the ethical stakes of bringing new sentient and intelligent creatures to life to work for the benefit of humanity? In the present study, my aim is to highlight the latest progress in biocomputing and to examine the hypothetical risks of creating OI using a ‘speculative design fiction’ approach. My main argument is that we should not disregard the possibility that these efforts could accidentally cause the phenomenal experience of suffering to spill over from biology into technology, which could thus have tragic consequences. I will present three different, but partly overlapping, scenarios that illustrate how OI might experience and respond to an alienated labor situation. In the conclusion, I will assess a few solutions meant to prevent OI suffering and the importance of expanding our moral circles.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2026. Vol. 176, article id 103758
Keywords [en]
Organoid intelligence, Emerging technologies, Brain organoids and sentience, AI suffering, Moral circle expansion
National Category
Sociology
Research subject
Sociology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-125963DOI: 10.1016/j.futures.2025.103758ISI: 001659748100001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105027218677OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-125963DiVA, id: diva2:2025053
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2022-00625Available from: 2026-01-03 Created: 2026-01-03 Last updated: 2026-01-23Bibliographically approved

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Roumbanis, Lambros

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