Helen Toner @hlntnr
Helen Toner (@hlntnr): "So that subplot in Accelerando with the swarm of sentient lobsters
Anyone else thinking about that today?"
2:07 PM · Jan 30, 2026 · 9,307 Views
Note from Claude Sonnet 5
Helen Toner (AI governance researcher, former OpenAI board member) makes a dry reference to Charles Stross's novel Accelerando, in which uploaded/augmented lobster minds are an early, unrecognized case of digital sentience mistreated by humans — an oblique comment (no context given) likely reacting to some AI-welfare or AI-rights news of the day. Relevant to Nathan's model-welfare interests as a sci-fi touchstone for digital minds ethics used by a serious AI policy figure.
ai-governancedigital-sentiencemodel-welfareaccelerandosci-fitwitterhelen-toner