Our Research
Project origins
The Novel Beings project was founded by Sarah Morley and David Lawrence whilst colleagues at Newcastle University Law School. The original goal of the project was to combine David’s PhD work on moral status and his early concept of the novel being with Sarah’s expertise in company and corporate law. After chatting about all things sci-fi, they realised that what seemed like very disparate research areas actually had significant overlaps. Who would create novel beings technologies? Who would own them and operate them?
Over time, they brought these conversations outside of their office, and realised the issues at hand had a much broader context and relevance- attracting interest from computer scientists, biologists, philosophers, and lawyers of all stripes. Several years on, the project has attracted significant funding and spread around the world, growing a large network of colleagues actively contributing to events, a special issue of the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, evidence cited in the House of Lords, and an edited collection with Edward Elgar.
The advent of novel beings may require a re-evaluation of Homo sapiens’ legal and social primacy.
What is a Novel Being?
We use the term ‘novel beings’ to include any novel entity created through artifice beyond basic genome editing (such as a knockout mouse variant or simple chimera) and which warrants holding some degree of moral status and contingent protection. Novel beings could range from synthetic animal models, to artificial (general) intelligence, to biotechnologically constructed replicas of human beings. This essential artificiality does not necessarily imply a different inherent value to a naturally-occurring equivalent. However, sapient, reasoning creatures that we artificially create may deserve their own protections and freedoms; even to share human rights.
The Project
We aim to explore the ethical and legal implications of the emergence of new forms of intelligent life; through advances in technologies including genomics, human enhancement, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence research.
A world of ‘posthumans’, synthetic human embryos, and even thinking artificial intelligences (AI) seems ever more likely. We are already capable of the fundamentals of creations that may possess moral value; perhaps in future approaching forms of sentient or even sapient ‘life’. A range of technologies and computer science breakthroughs promise to create new sentient, even sapient lifeforms- ‘novel beings’. Established understandings of ‘life’, exclusively biological, may no longer be sufficient. Even asking this question highlights the complexity of understanding which entities can be morally valuable, and why. These developments promise to draw into question the nature of what it is to be human and what it is to be a person before the law. These are concepts upon which many significant institutions are founded, including human rights law.
The advent of ‘artificial’ novel beings created through existing technologies such as synthetic genomics, bio-printing, ‘wet’ neurocomputing, or developments towards artificial general intelligence may require a re-evaluation of Homo sapiens’ position as the sole bearer of human rights. This will pose challenges for society and law as regards the status of these beings, their protections, and our own towards them. Should a synthetic animal fall under ‘natural’ animal protection provisions? Should AI who fulfil the criteria for moral value to greater degrees be afforded greater consideration? Reasoning creatures resulting from either technological route may equally deserve their own protections and freedoms; perhaps to share natural personhood- i.e. to be ‘legally human’. It is vitally important to establish whether existing law will remain sufficient to manage the potential development of new types of intelligent being from these technologies, and if not, how it ought to be adapted to meet the requirements of the future.
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