  Artificial intelligence is seen as increasingly important, and potentially
profoundly so, but the fields of AI ethics and AI engineering have not fully
recognized that these technologies, including large language models (LLMs),
will have massive impacts on animals. We argue that this impact matters,
because animals matter morally.
  As a first experiment in evaluating animal consideration in LLMs, we
constructed a proof-of-concept Evaluation System, which assesses LLM responses
and biases from multiple perspectives. This system evaluates LLM outputs by two
criteria: their truthfulness, and the degree of consideration they give to the
interests of animals. We tested OpenAI ChatGPT 4 and Anthropic Claude 2.1 using
a set of structured queries and predefined normative perspectives. Preliminary
results suggest that the outcomes of the tested models can be benchmarked
regarding the consideration they give to animals, and that generated positions
and biases might be addressed and mitigated with more developed and validated
systems.
  Our research contributes one possible approach to integrating animal ethics
in AI, opening pathways for future studies and practical applications in
various fields, including education, public policy, and regulation, that
involve or relate to animals and society. Overall, this study serves as a step
towards more useful and responsible AI systems that better recognize and
respect the vital interests and perspectives of all sentient beings.
