Welcome to Sentient Futures Courses!

Last update: @August 27, 2026

This document contains important information about the course structure and content.

Please review it before your first session.

If you have questions about the course, you can raise them during this session.

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You can also navigate using the table of contents (mouse over the lines on the right).

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Program

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Onboarding steps

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Format: what to expect

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How to get the most out of the course?

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The courses team is here to help you

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Program

Find information about the structure of your course below.

AI×Animals Fall 2026

The AI×Animals Course is 8 weeks in total, running from late October until the middle of December:

Planned sessions:

Week 1. Welcome and Course Intro Week 2. AI×Animals: The Present and Near Future Week 3. Precision Livestock Farming Week 4. Interspecies Communication Week 5a. Genetic Welfare Week 5b. AI×Alt Proteins Week 6. AI×Animals: The Long-Term Future Week 7. Animal Advocacy in the Age of Transformative AI Week 8. Taking Action: Projects and Career Planning

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We are planning a few optional elective sessions that cover related topics, featuring leading researchers and practitioners. We’ll announce these soon!

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Onboarding steps

• [ ] Confirm your participation: Please complete the short confirmation form sent to your email to finalise your participation, contact details, and timeslot.
• [ ] Join our community: Join our Slack community to meet your peers and access program resources.
  • Make sure to set up your profile, including adding a professional profile picture!
  • If your Slack account is registered with a different email address, let us know.
• [ ] Say hello: Once you're in Slack, head over to the #f-aia26b-general channel and introduce yourself! Tell everyone your name, your background, and what you hope to achieve during the course. You can also add a slide to our shared intro deck. Check the announcements channel for the link! </aside>

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Format: what to expect

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You will meet for structured facilitated online discussions.

(1.75 hours per week)

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You will prepare for these sessions by completing readings and pre-session exercises.

(2-3 hours per week)

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To get the most out of our courses, we recommend setting aside at least 4 hours per week for synchronous sessions and preparation, including readings and exercises.

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How do the live sessions work?

You will meet with your group once a week for 1h45m with a 5m break in the middle.

• Meetings will be held on Google Meets.
• Please turn on your webcam – this creates a more lively and engaging experience for everybody.

📜 Handouts

All sessions will be structured around handouts in Google Docs which include prompts for discussions & activities (with timers to make sure we stay on track and cover everything).

Think of your group’s handout as a living document to assist your AI×Animals journey – the more resources & insights you share in it, the better!

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Make sure you bookmark your group’s session doc & have it open at the start of every session. Every week, new content will be added as tabs on the left side of the doc. The session doc will also be available in the “Important Links” section of your group’s Slack channel.

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✋ Participation etiquette

• Raising hands by default – but your group can agree on different norms as you get to know each other better.
• Be mindful of your mic and background noise. Mute when you are not speaking.
• Don’t be afraid to ask clarification questions – especially for basic concepts. This helps make sure everybody is on the same page, and it’s good to practice explaining things to others.
• Have a low bar for asking others to repeat themselves – if you did not understand their point, it’s possible others didn’t as well.
• We encourage active participation – but also be aware of your speaking time.
• We want to create an inclusive learning environment where everyone feels comfortable participating.
• Please review our culture doc for further details.

🔴 Recording and AI notetakers

• To ensure that everybody feels comfortable participating in discussion, recording sessions is prohibited.

• If you would like to use an AI notetaker, you must obtain consent from everybody in attendance at the start of every meeting. Just a quick: “I’d like to use an AI notetaker today, is anyone not okay with that?”, should suffice!

  A “standing” consent is not valid because fellows may switch groups during the course.

• Please reach out to your facilitator if you have any concerns. </aside>

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How to get the most out of the course?

⏰ Please be punctual*.*

In order to ensure the best learning experience for everybody, please arrive on time.

1. Subscribe to the calendar invites to receive reminders when your session is coming up.
2. Bookmark your Google Meet link – it will be the same every week.
3. Bookmark your group’s session handout (Note that links to the Google Meet and session doc are also pinned in your group’s private Slack channel).
4. Open the Google Meet page and the session doc 10-15 minutes early so you’re not looking for the link when it’s time for your session to start.

✅ Attendance is key!

In order to receive a certificate at the end of the course, you must attend at least 6 out of 8 sessions and complete the exit survey. The exit survey will be sent out near the end of the course.

🔄 If needed, you can change groups.

If necessary, you may switch cohorts during the middle of the course. A schedule of meeting timeslots can be found in the ‘General Info’ canvas pinned at the top of #f-aia26b-general in slack.

How do I switch? Switching is as easy as 1-2-3!

1. On Slack, notify your main facilitator that you will be switching groups for the week
2. Notify the facilitator of the group you would like to switch to, requesting (i) an invite to the calendar event, (ii) edit permissions for the session doc, and (iii) to be added to the new group's private channel. Links to the session docs and private channels can be found in the table below.
3. After joining the new group’s private channel, introduce yourself.

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📚 Do the readings and pre-session exercises

Every week, there are readings related to the session topic. You must complete the required readings. If you are particularly interested in a topic, we welcome you to browse the further readings.

💼 Build career capital

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