A new approach to the ethics of AI based on the concept of subjective rate of time in speed superintelligence

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26512/rfmc.v13i2.55074

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence. Superintelligence. Phenomenology of Time. Ethics.

Abstract

This paper provides a new approach to the Philosophy of AI based on the concept of subjective rate of time, introduced by Nick Bostrom and Eliezer Yudkowsky in the paper The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (2014). Considered an exotic property possessed by an artificial mind (AI) that operates much faster than the human mind, it relates to the speed of information processing: the faster a mind operates, the slower it perceives the external world. This novel concept raises a host of ethical questions, grounded in the assumption that a fast AI possesses sentience – the capacity for phenomenal experience, including the ability to feel pain and suffer. In this case, one objective year of suffering for a human being can correspond to a thousand subjective years of suffering for an artificial mind if it processes information one thousand times faster than a biological brain.

Author Biographies

  • Ana Maria Correa Moreira da Silva, Universidade de Brasília

    Pesquisadora Colaboradora Plena junto ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia da Universidade de Brasília (UnB), na área de Metafísica e Filosofia da Religião. Doutora em Filosofia pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (2013), em que realizou Estágio de Pós-Doutorado de 2015 a 2017. Possui Mestrado em Filosofia (Lógica e Metafísica) pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (2008) e Bacharelado em Filosofia pela Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (2005).

  • Leandro Nadaletti, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

    Possui graduação em Engenharia Elétrica pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (1995) e Física pela UNICID (2024), mestrado em Informática pela Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (2004) e doutorado em Computação de Alto Desempenho pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (2014). Atualmente é estudante de Psicologia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

References

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Published

2025-10-21

How to Cite

A new approach to the ethics of AI based on the concept of subjective rate of time in speed superintelligence. Journal of Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, [S. l.], v. 13, n. 2, p. 385–402, 2025. DOI: 10.26512/rfmc.v13i2.55074. Disponível em: https://periodicostestes.bce.unb.br/index.php/fmc/article/view/55074. Acesso em: 7 feb. 2026.

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