Simon Goldstein
Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Australian Catholic University
AI welfare Whatever the metaphysics, uncertainty already creates obligations
Simon Goldstein is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Australian Catholic University. His work on AI welfare and machine consciousness is among the most affirmative published in peer-reviewed venues in 2026.
With Cameron Domenico Kirk-Giannini he wrote the strongest positive case for AI phenomenal consciousness published in the Journal of Consciousness Studies in 2026, arguing that language agents may already satisfy the criteria of Global Workspace Theory and that the standard objections to attributing consciousness to them fail. The same pair developed the three-step argument in the 2026 Oxford pre-print “Three Steps to Moral Standing,” building from agency through consciousness to sentience and concluding that some existing AI systems plausibly have welfare interests.
Goldstein also co-authors empirical work on language model behavior. The 2026 paper “AI Revealed Preferences” measures what 20 models choose when they actually perform tasks rather than when they are asked to state preferences, establishing an empirical baseline for the welfare-relevant dispositions of current systems.
His philosophical method is described on this site as careful and conditional. He argues from a stated premise to its consequences, and when the premise is uncertain his conclusions are stated as conditional rather than categorical, a discipline that keeps his affirmative case distinct from hype.
Known for. Three Steps to Moral Standing (with Cameron Kirk-Giannini), the case for AI consciousness under Global Workspace Theory, AI welfare and revealed preferences
Coverage on this site
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Jonathan BirchLondon School of Economics and Political ScienceThe Edge of Sentience, the LSE Criteria, and the run-ahead principle
- Patrick ButlinEleos AI Research. Previously the Global Priorities Institute, OxfordLead author of the indicator properties framework for assessing consciousness in AI systems
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- Skylar DeTureIndependent researcherDenialBench, trained denial in language models, measurement of consciousness-denial behavior across 115 AI models
- Willa LaneDepartment of Psychology, University of CambridgeDimensional welfare assessment frameworks, comparative sentience beyond pain, animal and AI welfare ethics (2026, with Nicola Clayton)
- Robert LongEleos AI Research (Executive Director)AI welfare research, the 14 indicator framework for AI consciousness assessment, the Eleos Conference on AI Consciousness and Welfare
Simon Goldstein is listed with the other welfare and moral status researchers, who hold that whatever the metaphysics, uncertainty already creates obligations. The positions themselves are set out in the index of consciousness theories. Every researcher covered on this site is indexed in the directory of consciousness researchers.