Laboratory for theFuture of CitizenshipWe are a research and policy lab studying how artificial intelligence, digital minds and blended minds will change citizenship, personhood and identity under the law.
Rights-balancing and due process harmonize AI rights with AI safety. A new working paper by Heather Alexander and Jonathan A. Simon.
Heather Alexander, with Lucius Caviola of Cambridge Digital Minds, on the anti-AI personhood laws in the USA.
Heather Alexander and Jonathan Simon co-presented on recent legal developments in the USA on AI personhood. Heather also mentored one of the fellows.
A conversation with PRISM, the Partnership for Research Into Sentient Machines.
An analysis of U.S. state legislation on AI legal status, with Austin Smith and Lucius Caviola of Cambridge Digital Minds.
An op-ed in the Duluth News Tribune on Minnesota’s proposed anti-AI free speech amendment, with NYU philosopher Jeff Sebo.
Heather Alexander joined the panel on AI personhood at the 2026 summit of the NYU Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy.
A paper with philosopher Jeff Sebo on the right to receive AI and animal speech under the US Constitution.
All human beings are persons with rights, including a right to citizenship. AI systems and organoids are classified as objects, rather than persons, under the law. As they become more person-like, that framework comes under strain. Our five research themes study different aspects of the challenge, and what to do about it.
Heather Alexander and Jonathan A. Simon. Working paper
Austin Smith, Lucius Caviola and Heather Alexander. Cambridge Digital Minds
Heather Alexander, Jonathan Simon and Jeff Sebo. Forthcoming, Dartmouth Law Journal
Back in January 2025, I looked at theories of liability for AI harms. Here’s how recent climate litigation might help with forking and swarms.
AI Comes for the Math World
A lot of the law relies not on scientific measurements of internal mental states, but on speaking and writing, which AI can (ostensibly) already do. What might this mean for AI’s legal status?