The phrase “sentient” is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, like “SEN-shunt.” It’s an adjective which means “in a position to really feel or understand,” and it’s usually used to explain residing beings, equivalent to people and animals.
Sentience is a crucial idea in philosophy and ethics, as it’s the foundation for our skill to expertise pleasure and ache, and to make ethical choices. The idea of sentience can be essential within the discipline of synthetic intelligence, as researchers work to develop machines which might be able to feeling and experiencing the world round them.