I couldn’t care less if AI suffers, and so should you

A recent AEON article asks “If AIs can feel pain, what is our responsibility towards them?”.This post could be really, really short. I may point out that speculation is good but sometimes should remain just that, and then ask why on Earth anybody should waste time worrying about causing pain to AIs that don’t even exist yet, instead of how to end the pain we humans inflict on each other. I could do that, and be done with it.Dark red: main war zones. Rest of map: places worrying about pain of AI. Source: ACLED Conflicts Watchlist 2026.Then again, seeing how eager people are to carry certain thoughts to places they should never reach, it can be useful to summarize the main points, and why they don’t hold water in practice. Bonus content: AI faithwashing.If AIs can feel pain...The AEON article was written because “We once denied the suffering of animals in pain. As AIs grow more complex, we run the danger of making the same mistake.”Up to just a few centuries ago, the default…