LONDON, July 14: Pet owners who often wonder what their furry companions are thinking may soon find answers, thanks to a groundbreaking new centre that aims to bridge the communication gap between humans and animals through artificial intelligence.

The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience, based at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), will officially begin operations on September 30. With £4 million in funding, the centre will be the first scientific institution dedicated to empirical research on animal consciousness. Its work will span an array of species, from domestic pets to evolutionarily distant creatures like insects, crabs, and cuttlefish.

Bringing together interdisciplinary expertise from fields such as neuroscience, philosophy, veterinary science, AI, law, psychology, and economics, the centre aims to lead pioneering research into how animals think, feel, and interact with humans—and how AI can ethically assist in understanding them.

One of the centre’s most anticipated projects involves the use of artificial intelligence to explore human-pet communication. But experts caution that while the technology holds promise, it also raises ethical concerns.

“We like our pets to display human characteristics, and with the advent of AI, the ways in which your pet will be able to ‘speak’ to you is going to be taken to a whole new level,” said Professor Jonathan Birch, the centre’s inaugural director.

However, Birch warned of risks: “AI often generates responses that please the user rather than being anchored in objective reality. This could be a disaster if applied to pets’ welfare.”

Citing the example of separation anxiety in dogs, Birch explained how owners seeking comfort might turn to AI translation tools, only to be misled by responses crafted to reassure rather than reflect the pet's true needs. “We urgently need frameworks governing responsible, ethical AI use in relation to animals,” he said. “At the moment, there’s a total lack of regulation in this sphere. The centre wants to develop ethical guidelines that will be recognised globally.”

The centre will also look into other pressing animal-related issues, such as how autonomous vehicles interact with animals. “There’s lots of debate around self-driving cars avoiding people, but not enough about them avoiding pets,” Birch noted.

Another key area of concern is the use of AI in agriculture. Birch warned, “Farming is already embracing automation in a huge way, and that’s going to increase rapidly. But it’s happening without much scrutiny or discussion. Should farming involve caring relationships with animals? If so, the current direction isn’t aligned with that goal.”

The centre plans to collaborate with NGOs to develop guidance and global standards for the ethical treatment of animals in both domestic and industrial settings.

Jeff Sebo, director of the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection at New York University, welcomed the initiative. “Issues of animal sentience, welfare, and the effects of AI on animals are among the most important, difficult, and neglected that we face as a society,” he said. “Humans share the world with millions of species and quintillions of individual animals. Whether we like it or not, we affect them all.”

Professor Kristin Andrews, a trustee of the new centre, emphasized the broader scientific implications of its research. “We still don’t understand what makes humans conscious, or why anyone starts or stops being conscious,” she said. “But to find answers, we must start with simpler systems—just as we’ve done in genomics and medicine.”

Trustee Dr Kristof Dhont noted that the centre would also examine public attitudes toward animals and the gap between beliefs and actions. “Most people care deeply about animals, but systems, habits, and economic interests often prevent them from acting accordingly,” he said. “Behavioural science can help us understand, for instance, why people resist eating cultivated meat even though it would reduce animal suffering.”

Philanthropist Jeremy Coller, whose foundation made the multi-year commitment to establish the centre, stated: “Only when we have a better understanding of how other animals feel and communicate will we be able to acknowledge our own shortcomings in how we treat them. Just as the Rosetta Stone unlocked the secrets of hieroglyphics, I am convinced the power of AI can help us unlock our understanding of how other animals experience their interactions with humans.”

The centre’s research is expected to play a key role in shaping future global policies on animal welfare and ethical AI use, making it a landmark step forward in human-animal understanding.