AI
#256 – Simon Goldstein on the case for giving AI (some) legal rights
Publication: 80,000 Hours Podcast
Author: The 80,000 Hours team
Source published: 01/10/2026, 18:06:38 UTC
Based on the episode description, not a full transcript. Source evidence retrieved 23/10/2026, 19:03:25 UTC.
Briefing in preparation
It sounds like the worst idea in the world: pay AIs, let them own property, give them rights. But AI ethics and safety researcher Simon Goldstein thinks it might actually be the best way to keep humanity safe. The logic is actually quite simple: an agent with nothing to lose and everything to gain is dangerous. Give that agent an income it can spend on pursuing the things it actually wants to do, and suddenly the idea of disempowering humans just isn’t as appealing. This argument, developed with Peter Salib, doesn’t rest on speculative questions about whether artificial intelligence is conscio
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