‘Pet’ Research Simplified: How AI, LSE Centre Aim To Help You Understand Your Dog, Cat Better – Explained
The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience, located at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), is set to create new techniques to analyse animal emotions.
Why does your dog seem downcast? Why is your cat doing something different with its paws? Not sure whether you’re truly supporting your pet’s needs? Soon, artificial intelligence (AI) and science might provide the answers.
The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience, based at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), will be developing fresh methods to scientifically study how animals feel.
What is the centre’s focus?
As per information from the LSE website, the Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience — funded through a multi-year £4 million contribution from the Jeremy Coller Foundation — will apply the developing science of animal sentience to help create better policies, legislation, and animal welfare practices.
Headed by its first Director, Professor Jonathan Birch, the centre — launching in autumn 2025 at LSE — will utilise LSE’s wide-ranging academic strengths by bringing together top faculty and students. It will also collaborate with international experts from areas like philosophy, veterinary science, evolutionary biology, psychology, neuroscience, behavioural studies, AI, economics, and law — all united under a shared research vision and mission to improve animal well-being.
The AI collaboration
The centre will engage with partners (including those from scientific, technological, and agricultural sectors) to examine how AI can be ethically applied to animal welfare. One of the key goals is to formulate a code of ethics that ensures animals and their needs are not overlooked by the AI industry.
Professor Jonathan Birch, from the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at LSE and the founding Director of the Centre, stated:
“This new centre, the first of its kind globally, will serve as a launchpad for ethical breakthroughs. Let’s envision a world where all sentient beings, even the tiniest, are treated with dignity. Let’s imagine a world where AI is harnessed to uplift animals, not harm them. Let’s build a world where people are supported in acting on their compassion for animals instead of being pushed towards indifference. Some say this is unrealistic — but we want to shift the line between what is ‘possible’ and what is presumed ‘impossible.’”
Jeremy Coller also remarked:
“We are a speciesist society — only by better understanding how animals feel and express themselves will we confront how poorly we often treat them. Just like the Rosetta Stone decoded ancient hieroglyphics, I firmly believe AI has the potential to unlock our comprehension of how animals perceive and react to human interaction.”
