Hi everyone! This week, for Blog Post 3, I wanted to discuss a subject about AI and how it could be used to navigate an ethical dilemma that has been going on for years, but has become particularly relevant recently. As AI has continued to advance, we have began to trust it way more based on not only statistics but also the fact that human involvement in certain situations can lead to many more errors rather than using AI. Animal testing for medicine, makeup, and products that we consume everyday has become more common than we think, and I believe this is a practice that should be eliminated due to the conditions that the animals are subjected to and the aftermath of the testing which is not only unethical, but can be cruel overall. This post will walk through some of the history of the origins and uses of animal testing, how this has affected household brands, and using AI as a solution.
History of Animal Testing
Source: https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/artificial-intelligence-could-be-promising-alternative-to-animal-models/
The use of animal testing dates back much farther than we would think, even before the introduction of modern medicine and the development of widespread technology. According to Advanced Science News, “Animal testing has been carried out for centuries, with the first references made as early the 3rd and 4th centuries BC in the writings of Greek physician-philosophers such as Aristotle (384-322 BC), who used animals to reveal important internal features in mammals”. Animal testing has evolved immensely past the original purpose it served. According to the article, “Without animal tests, it would be hard to imagine the advent of life changing medical innovations, such as vaccines, antibiotics, drugs like insulin treat diabetes, and a host of others”. This is where the ethical and moral comes in because even though animal testing has revolutionized healthcare, it comes at a very tragic cost of the animals involved and the situations that they have to endure.
Brands and Animal Testing
Source: https://www.finehomesandliving.com/featured/cosmetic-animal-cruelty-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/article_22f3191b-8ef2-50a6-962a-c540748a9b43.html
Many of the brands that we purchase products from regularly may be using animal testing to try to figure out the quality of the product or how it will be used by the people who are purchasing them. One industry that is a major culprit of animal testing is the cosmetic industry. I can speak from experience that recently I’ve seen more cosmetic products that have labels on them to prove that they don’t take part in animal testing, but many big names still do and it isn’t talked about enough. According to the article, “The animals most frequently used are mice, rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs. In these tests for cosmetic products, they suffer through evaluations for skin irritation, eye irritation and any kind of toxicity. This in turn can cause severe damage to the animal, or worse – death”. This shows a major urgency to take action related to trying to stop animal testing, especially in industries such as cosmetics and medicine that rely on them heavily.
AI and an Animal Testing Solution
Sources: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/potential-of-artificial-intelligence-replacing-animal-testing-in-the-future/
AI has given hope to the issue of animal testing, and through new development of AI, animal testing may not be a practice used in the future. According to Sinha, “Start-ups like Verisim Life have started utilizing the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning in biosimulation to replace animal testing in the nearby future. It is a San Francisco biotechnology start-up focused on building digital animal simulations to reduce animal testing for drug discovery”. This is a great solution because rather than having to use the animals that are typically involved in animal testing, companies can use the AI generated simulation to mimic the same conditions that they would get if they were to use an animal.
Additional benefits of AI
Source: https://www.pharmavoice.com/news/Quris-pharma-artificial-intelligence-animal-testing-mouse/622640/
Another common debate would be the reliability of AI. In the case of animal testing, AI might provide accurate results. According to Gibney, “Among many examples of animal trails failing to translate to success in humans is the development of an HIV/AID vaccine. Dozens of trials in primates succeeded in finding what looked like a viable candidate, but for years those vaccines didn’t result in human immunity to the virus”. In these situations where animal testing is proving to be inaccurate in a way, why continue to test with the animals? If there are systems and AI that exist to provide overall more accurate results, there are better options to use. Additionally, Gibney states, “For artificial intelligence, data is king – the more data fed into a system, the better it can “learn” and predict what could come next”. This is interesting because if certain results that the AI used for pharmacy and medical development are proven to be successful, the people involved in the studies can use results that already exist as starting point for future trails, or as justification for existing trials.
Ethics and Conclusion
Usually, when it comes to AI and ethics, the question is more about the ethics behind the AI and whether or not it is morally correct to use. In the case of animal testing, I believe this situation shows that the animals are not being treated ethically and in a safe manner, and that if AI were to be used to stop animal testing, it would give AI a lot of credibility for providing a great benefit for a variety of AI uses. What does everyone think about this?
Thanks,
Jhanvi Desai
I think this is a great example of how AI can help us. I am curious about how they model something that is as intricate as a human/animal and would love to see how they developed these models for testing uses.
The concept of biosimulation is really cool and I didn’t think of it as a substitute for animal testing until I read your blog post. From the information I know about biosimulation software, it is really fascinating how we can use a mathematical simulation in order to replicate the same results as generic animal testing. Just curious – did you find anything about how these models account for variances in “test subjects” and how that would be represented in the results? I am interested to see how far AI implementation will evolve and whether or not it yields strong enough results that would cause Animal Testing to be obsolete.
Interesting topic Jhandvi! This has long been awaited, testing on live subjects is archaic. I am curious about how AI software is utilized to replicate the live response of an animal to a product.
Hey Jhandvi! This is a very interesting post. I strongly believe that using AI in animals could bring so much hope, such as allowing us to find new medicine and vaccines to use on pets/animals. This definitely is a game changer.
Great post! I think its really neat to see how the use of AI can improve ethics in animal testing. One question I have after reading is how accurate it would simulate a real animal response and reaction. If something is tested through AI and passes, but then causes negative reactions to humans is it worth it to protect the animals? or the humans? Interesting topic that I think we will see a lot more of in the future!
Hey Jhanvi, I agree that these unethical practices need to be replaced with more humane options. In general, I think it would be awesome to see AI making an impact on such a niche industry as well. Biosimulation seems to be the future but for sure will have to wait and see what happens.
Hi Jhanvi! Great post. Animal testing has always been something that has caught my attention, so when I saw that you connected this subject with AI, I immediately had to read! I completely agree with you that animal testing is unethical and I really hope that one day there will be other ways to accomplish testing for everyday products. It’s really upsetting when I see pictures of animals with red eyes or the fur off of their skin.
I’m glad that AI is being used for good and it’ll definitely be interesting to see if the AI generated animals can be comparable to real animals. I really hope that the advancements in the field of AI animal testing continue!
Hey Jhanvi! I found this post super interesting. It somewhat reminds me of the Netflix show Maniac with Jonah Hill. In that show, they use a machine to assess people that then tells them what is wrong with them. Having an AI computer that can be used to plug in certain diseases and cures to see how they may react is huge. Even having an AI computer be able to simulate how a virus may spread could be very significant in how us as a society should react to certain things.
Hi Jhanvi, this post was very informative. Previously, I have had little to no knowledge of the uses of animal testing other than using the term “lab rats.” If AI simulated tests and research can provide better results while also eliminating the need to perform animal testing, it will be groundbreaking. Many think of AI negatively in the context of ethics so I enjoyed hearing a positive implementation of it.
Hi Jhanvi! I think it is great news to see AI being used in such a highly debated field. Animal testing is a nasty thing, but its usefulness seems irreplaceable. I would much rather have the products be tested on animals first rather than humans, but it would be even better if we did not have to test on any living beings at all. Also, I love the quote you pulled: “For artificial intelligence, data is king”. Where would all of this simulated data come from? I am curious about that and I’d like to hear what you think. Good work!
Hey Jhanvi! This is a very interesting post. I had no idea that AI was used in animal testing. I still do not fully understand how it is used, but I am happy to see that no animals are harmed and unethical practices are avoided. It’s amazing to see how much data AI can process and interpret, even about animals. I also thought it was interesting how AI is proven to be more effective for HIV/AIDS testing than animal testing is. I hope to see more benefits of AI in medical tests in the future. Great post!
Great post! It’s really informative and sheds light on a topic that isn’t talked about enough. I appreciate how you explained the history of animal testing and how it has evolved over time. Your discussion on the impact of animal testing on the cosmetic industry is particularly eye-opening. I think the idea of using AI simulations to replace animal testing is really promising, and it’s great to see companies like Verisim Life taking action towards that.
Great post Jhanvi! I like how you gave us some background of how testing was always done on animals in so many industries, but the implementation of AI can help change that. These simulations can be just as effective when performing initial testing, when some new chemicals could cause severe harm to real life animals.
Hello Jhanvi! This post was very interesting and informative as I didn’t know the extent of animal testing and everything that goes behind it. I am interested to see how AI can improve animal testing but it looks like the future is bright.I liked how you talked about the ethics at the bottom because this is something important especially deciding if it is morally correct or not.
Hey Jhanvi! I thought it was very interesting. I never thought about the use of AI in relation to animal testing. I am wondering how soon this will come to reality or if there will be any regulations that go along with it. Its crazy how AI can be used to predict the effects of drug testing as if they were using animal testing which could be harmful to actual test subjects.
Hi Jhanvi, great choice of topic for your post! I did not think about how AI can help with issues surrounding the ethics of animal testing. When I am shopping, I do look at certain products to see if they have the “no animal testing” sticker on them, so I find it very fascinating to see that AI can help prevent (or at least reduce) animal testing. I think it will definitely take time for AI to provide accurate results because the results need to be compared to animal testing for a certain amount of time to ensure accuracy. Overall, it will be very interesting to see how this topic develops in the near future, and I will definitely be keeping up with it!
Hey Jhanvi, such an interesting post this week and a different one. I think its great they are trying to create a solution to animal testing that has harmed millions of animals for the good of science. Animal testing wasn’t judged in the past too much as it is now and its great to see other options. AI might not be able to replicate what animal testing has done for science but it will be interesting to see the developments for the future.
Good post Jhanvi, this topic is super interesting. Its funny to see how AI usually has a lot of moral ambiguity but perhaps we could see AI help solve issues where ethics play a role in the decision-making. Its also something I wasnt too familiar with but reading your post informed me of brands using animals for testing.
This makes me so happy that people are trying to find a way to replace the need for animal testing. As you mentioned, there are many instances where products are tested on animals, but it doesn’t relate to how it effects humans. This puts animals through cruel and unnecessary testing just for the outcome to be irrelevant. I would be interested to know more about how this would work exactly and how the technology would be able to translate to how the product would effect humans.
Really great post! I like the angle on an ethical issue that can be helped out by tech. We need more business leaders thinking like this!
Hey Jhanvi! I think this is such an interesting topic because it something that I never really pondered on. I think it will be interesting to see how the issue surrounding the ethics of everything develop as entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk have already received a lot of backlash for trying to intermingle AI and Monkeys. This article taught me a lot, and I believe one of the most interesting points was how AI can be used to actually lower the amount of animal testing that will take place. Great post!
Hey Jhanvi, this was a great read! It is calming to know that AI could help a situation such as this. Animal testing has gone on for so long, and so much data has been collected. If we put this data into AI computer it would almost be the equivalent of testing the animal. So we are able to come to a result faster, and without harming any animals in the process. Thanks for sharing!