Updated 2026-07-13
learn
Moral patient / moral status
A being whose interests we're morally obligated to weigh for its own sake. Having "moral status" means you can be wronged. The concept is distinct from moral agency — being responsible for one's own actions.
Why it matters to the rights debate
The core of the central question: could an AI ever be a moral patient — something that can be wronged — even if it's not a person in the legal sense?