Toni Sims
I am a researcher affiliated with New York University’s Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy, where I investigate nonhuman consciousness and the boundaries of minds and moral concern. My work focuses on philosophical and practical questions raised by emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, human-AI interaction, and digital minds. I am especially interested in how new technologies challenge assumptions about cognition, embodiment, agency, and personal identity.
Research
Nonhuman consciousness and moral status
I investigate consciousness and moral status in biological and artificial systems, with a focus on (i) how we should reason under uncertainty about other minds and (ii) how emerging technologies challenge existing ethical frameworks and institutions.
Minds, bodies, and selves
I am interested in how minds are individuated and how identities are shaped by embodiment, environmental engagement, and social interaction. My work in this area examines questions about personal identity, distributed cognition, body ownership, and the porous boundaries between humans, technologies, and other minds.
Public philosophy
I am especially interested in making philosophical questions about AI accessible to broader public audiences and in clarifying the conceptual assumptions underlying debates about emerging technologies. I explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping human thought, creativity, agency, and social life.
Publications
Sebo, J., White, A., & Sims, T. “One Health and Multispecies Urban Infrastructure.” In J. Kotzmann & K. Woolaston (Eds.), One Health and the Law: Existing Frameworks, Intersections and Future Pathways. Cambridge University Press (forthcoming in 2026).
Sims, T., Franks, B., Ryan, E., & Sebo, J. “From Pandas to Corals: Assessing the Animal Welfare Impacts of Assisted Reproduction Technologies.” Journal of Applied Animal Ethics Research (2025).
Sims, T. and Sebo, J. “Ethical Oversight for Insect Research.” Zoophilologica (2025).
Long, R., Sebo, Jeff, & Sims, T. “Is There a Tension between AI Safety and AI Welfare?” Philosophical Studies (2025).
Sebo, J., Dietz, E., & Sims, T. “Towards a Global Ban on Industrial Animal Agriculture by 2050” Environmental Law (2025).
Andrews, K., Birch, J., Jeff Sebo, & Sims, T. “Background to the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness” (2024).
Long, R., Sebo, J., Butlin, P., Finlinson, K., Fish, K., Harding, J., Pfau, J., Sims, T., Birch, J., & Chalmers, D. “Taking AI Welfare Seriously.” arXiv (2024).
White, A., Sebo, J., Franks, B., Minelli, A., Wyman, K., Krupa, D., Morris, V., & Sims, T. “Wild Animal Welfare in Local Policies on Land Use and the Built Environment.” Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law (2024).
Adleberg, T., Franks, B., Minelli, A., Sebo, J., Wyman, K., & White, A. Considering Wild Animal Welfare in Benefit-Cost Analysis [Public Comment to OIRA] (2023).
Thompson, M., T. Adleberg, S. Sims, and E. Nahmias, “Why Do Women Leave Philosophy? Surveying Students at the Introductory Level” Philosophers’ Imprint 16:6 (2016).
Adleberg, T., M Thompson, and E. Nahmias, “Do men and women have different philosophical intuitions? Further data.” Philosophical Psychology 28:5 (2014).
Adleberg, T. “The Thought Experiments Are Rigged: Mechanistic Understanding Inhibits Mentalistic Understanding,” MA thesis under the direction of Eddy Nahmias at Georgia State University (2013).
Towards a Global Ban on Industrial Animal Agriculture by 2050
This article outlines the environmental, health, and social harms of large-scale animal farming and proposes international legal precedents and policy steps toward a gradual, just transition away from this food system.
Highlights
Taking AI Welfare Seriously
We argue that there is a realistic possibility that some AI systems could be conscious or robustly agentic in the near future. Because of this possibility, AI welfare and moral patienthood deserve serious attention from researchers and companies. We propose early steps for assessment and policy.
Is There a Tension Between AI Safety and AI Welfare?
There may sometimes be a tension between efforts to ensure ‘AI safety’ (i.e., protecting humans and other animals from AI systems) and ‘AI welfare’ (i.e., protecting AI systems from humans and other animals). We should develop thoughtful approaches that promote both where possible.
Contact
For research collaboration or writing inquiries, please contact: toni.sims@nyu.edu
