“AI and Animal Welfare: A Policy Case Study from Aotearoa New Zealand Policy” by Karen Singleton
Description
TL;DR
- AI systems manage hundreds of thousands of animals in NZ (billions globally) under decades-old regulations with zero AI-specific welfare provisions
- I spent 3 months part-time + $0 writing a policy brief highlighting this gap for local policymakers
- The pattern is universal: deploy first, regulate later (maybe)
- The resulting policy brief proposes practical solutions using existing frameworks
- Takeaway: this work is doable without massive resources, similar gaps likely exist in your jurisdiction and the window of opportunity is closing
Introduction
AI systems are already being deployed to manage potentially billions of animals across agriculture and wildlife control, with essentially zero welfare-specific regulation. The regulatory frameworks being established right now, in the next 1-3 years, will likely lock in for decades. And almost no one is working on this.
EA has strong work on AI safety and animal welfare separately, but the intersection is only beginning to be explored. [...]
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Outline:
(00:13 ) TL;DR
(00:53 ) Introduction
(02:27 ) Aotearoa New Zealand case study
(04:35 ) The Regulatory Context and Pattern
(06:09 ) Global AI governance: the animal welfare gap
(07:19 ) Why This Was Doable
(08:30 ) Four Implementation Insights
(10:24 ) Practical Pathways
(11:43 ) So what's next?
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First published:
October 20th, 2025
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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
United States
