About CMEP

Mission and Vision

At present, the world contains quintillions of nonhuman animals. Human activity is increasingly shaping the lives of these animals, by determining whether they can exist and what kinds of lives they can have if they do. And in the future, nonhuman populations might be much larger, and might include advanced artificial intelligences as well.

These trends raise important questions at the intersection of mind, ethics, and policy. Which nonhumans are conscious, sentient, and sapient? What kind of moral, legal, and political status should they have? How can humans build a positive future for the vast multiplicity of potentially morally significant beings who might one day exist?

These questions, in turn, require us to confront some of the hardest problems in science, philosophy, and policy. What is the nature of consciousness? Can we have knowledge about other minds? Can we make welfare comparisons across species? What do we owe members of other nations, generations, species, and substrates?

Our mission is to advance understanding of the nature and value of nonhuman minds, with special focus on animals and AI.

Our vision is a world in which all sentient and otherwise morally significant beings are treated with respect and compassion.

We pursue these goals through research, outreach, and field-building in science, ethics, and policy.

CMEP launched as a program in Fall 2022 and relaunched as an endowed center in Fall 2024. A $6,000,000 endowment now supports a permanent baseline annual budget of approximately $275,000.

We gladly accept donations to our endowment and spend-down funds:

• Our endowment fund is invested by the university, generating interest that supports our basic operations and research, outreach, and field-building activities.
• Our spend-down fund is spent directly by CMEP, allowing us to expand our operations and activities beyond what our endowment interest alone can support.

You can donate to these funds in two ways:

• You can access the NYU donation portal and enter “Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy Endowment Fund” or “Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy Spend-Down Fund” in the designation field.
• You can contact us at nonhumanminds@nyu.edu to discuss a possible gift. We can then connect you to the Development Office to create a gift agreement and arrange a wire transfer.