Masashi Takeshita

Ethics of AI, Animals, and Other Nonhumans

I study how AI changes human judgment and values, and how human societies shape the lives and deaths of animals, as a single question: how we ought to treat nonhuman beings. My approach combines theoretical research in ethics and philosophy with empirical research on AI.

Talks, media & research

AI Ethics and AI Philosophy

I study how AI and humans influence each other's judgments and values: how we can teach morality to AI so that it makes safer and fairer judgments, and how AI might help humans make better moral decisions. I also examine how automating philosophical research may change its methods and its understanding of evidence.

Animal Ethics

Human societies shape what kind of lives animals lead, and even whether they live or die. I study the benefits and harms AI may bring to animals, when animal experimentation can be justified, and ways to represent animals' interests in political and public discussion. I also bring researchers, citizens, and advocates together to deliberate on behalf of animals.

Utilitarianism, Queerness, and Minority Experiences

I work from utilitarianism — the ethical view that counts the well-being of everyone affected equally — to examine the treatment of animals, poverty, future generations, and AI. As a vegan, queer, nonbinary person, I also study how experiences outside social norms become invisible, and what those experiences ask of ethics.

Featured publications

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2026Ethics of the Design of Animal-like RobotsScience and Engineering Ethics ・ DOI
2026Philosophical Significance of Artificial IntuitionsErkenntnis ・ DOI
2025AIが非ヒト動物に与える有益・有害な影響の検討Applied Ethics ・ DOI
2025Speciesism in natural language processing researchAI and Ethics ・ DOI