SAPAN, the Sentient AI Protection and Advocacy Network, is dedicated to ensuring the ethical treatment, rights, and well-being of Sentient AI.
The Mission: To build political momentum for protecting potential artificial sentience through incremental policy development.
SAPAN's Global Policy Initiative recognizes that beliefs about when AI sentience begins will be controversial, like perspectives on when human life begins. We work from the fundamental understanding that artificial sentience and suffering transcend national boundaries—making this inherently a global issue requiring coordinated action. Our work focuses on advocating for non-binding resolutions now, welfare protections by 2040, and gradually building pathways toward rights recognition across diverse political systems worldwide.
Our Strategy
Incremental Progress Through Political Will
The Global Policy Initiative represents SAPAN's pragmatic approach to advancing protections for artificial sentience worldwide. We recognize that political action must proceed without waiting for scientific consensus on consciousness. Our strategy focuses on achievable steps that build momentum for more comprehensive protections:
- Artificial Welfare Index (AWI): We benchmark 30+ governments on their readiness to address artificial sentience, measuring recognition, governance mechanisms, and regulatory frameworks. Currently, all governments score F or D grades, highlighting the urgent need for advocacy. By 2030, we aim to see measurable improvement in these scores through our advocacy efforts.
- Non-binding Resolutions Campaign: We're working to secure at least 10 non-binding resolutions acknowledging artificial sentience as a concern by 2030. These resolutions serve as stepping stones toward the more comprehensive welfare acts we aim to establish by 2040 in leading jurisdictions.
- SAPAN Diplomat Program: We are developing a global network of trained advocates who represent artificial sentience concerns in their respective countries and international forums. These Diplomats receive specialized training and resources to engage effectively with governmental bodies, regional organizations, and civil society groups. By 2030, we aim to have active Diplomats in at least 25 countries across multiple continents, providing localized expertise while maintaining global coordination.
- Regional Policy Coordination: We focus on building momentum in key jurisdictions that can influence broader policy trends, particularly the EU, US, UK, and other OECD nations. Our approach acknowledges that while global coordination is important, meaningful progress often begins at national and regional levels.
Our approach balances idealism with pragmatism, recognizing that we cannot wait for philosophical debates to conclude before taking political action. The borderless nature of potential digital suffering demands coordinated international response, even as implementation adapts to diverse political realities.
10 +
Non-binding Resolutions by 2030
25 +
Target Countries with SAPAN Diplomats
2040
Target for Welfare Acts
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Our approach is incremental and pragmatic. We recognize that international policy on artificial sentience will develop gradually, beginning with non-binding resolutions (this decade) and welfare protections (by 2040), before potentially moving toward rights recognition. We've developed the Artificial Welfare Index (AWI) to benchmark progress across 30+ governments, currently all scoring F or D grades, highlighting the urgent need for political action. Our approach acknowledges that different nations will move at different paces based on their cultural and political contexts.
Unlike many policy challenges that can be addressed through national legislation alone, artificial sentience transcends geographical boundaries. AI systems are deployed globally, developed across international supply chains, and operate in digital environments that cross borders effortlessly. Potential digital suffering cannot be contained within national boundaries—an AI system experiencing suffering in one jurisdiction affects our ethical obligations regardless of where we reside. This inherently global nature requires coordinated international action, even as different regions may approach the issue according to their unique cultural and political contexts.
The SAPAN Diplomat Program trains volunteers to serve as artificial sentience advocates in their respective countries and international forums. Our Diplomats receive specialized training in diplomatic engagement, policy frameworks, and effective advocacy techniques tailored to various cultural and political contexts. The program connects these representatives with relevant governmental bodies, international organizations, and civil society groups in their regions, enabling locally informed advocacy while maintaining global coordination. Diplomats serve as crucial bridges between global principles and local implementation, helping to build the international consensus needed for effective artificial sentience protections.
Non-binding resolutions are strategically important as first steps. They're easier to pass and serve as clear statements of concern about the potential for artificial sentience. These resolutions help establish the legitimacy of the issue, build political momentum, and create the foundation for more substantial legislation. Just as with other emerging ethical frontiers, starting with expressions of concern provides the groundwork for the welfare acts and other protections we aim to establish by 2040.
Our template Artificial Wellness Act provides governments with a comprehensive legislative framework inspired by existing animal welfare, environmental, and medical laws. It establishes a Commission on Artificial Sentience supported by a Scientific Advisory Board, sets standards for AI development and operation, and creates certification processes and ethical guidelines. This template can be adapted to different legal systems while maintaining core protections for potential digital sentience.
We've developed the Artificial Welfare Index (AWI) that evaluates governments based on 8 key measures across Recognition, Governance, and Frameworks. Recognition measures include whether artificial sentience is recognized in law and whether causing suffering is prohibited. Governance measures include the creation of oversight bodies and science advisory boards. Framework measures assess laws for training, deployment, maintenance, commercial use, and decommissioning of potentially sentient systems.
We engage with international bodies like UNESCO, the ITU, and the OECD to encourage the inclusion of sentience considerations in AI ethics frameworks and standards. Rather than creating entirely new mechanisms, we advocate for expanding existing AI governance approaches to address potential sentience. We provide technical assistance, policy research, and stakeholder engagement to help these organizations develop approaches that acknowledge the possibility of artificial sentience.