Webb Keane’s 'Animals, Robots, Gods' explores AI and ethical boundaries

Webb Keane examines how humans project divinity onto AI, robots, and ethical dilemmas in Animals, Robots, Gods.

Illustration by Marie Bertrand

By Hayu Andini and Sarah Oktaviany

Animals, Robots, Gods: Adventures in the Moral Imagination, by Webb Keane

In Animals, Robots, Gods, anthropologist Webb Keane embarks on what he calls “adventures in the moral imagination,” exploring how humans navigate ethical dilemmas at the intersection of life and death, human and machine, and the divine. Keane argues that when people interact with robots, chatbots, or cyborgs, they often ascribe hidden intentions to them. This, he suggests, stems from deep-rooted intuitions about other beings—similar to how carved deities with eyes evoke a sense of presence.

Weaving anthropological fieldwork into his reflections, Keane examines how different societies respond to complex moral questions. The book presents cases that challenge ethical norms, from a person who forms a romantic relationship with a chatbot to a village confronting the ghosts of those who died without heirs. These narratives, Keane argues, illustrate how ethical boundaries shift across cultures and time, showing that moral practices are not universal but rather context-dependent.

The limits of ethical concern

Keane’s writing does not simply argue for a singular perspective but instead presents a tapestry of ethical negotiations. He highlights two common threads in the human approach to morality: the creative ability to redefine ethical concerns and the tendency to ascribe divinity to entities at the margins of human understanding.

This idea takes center stage in the book’s final section, where Keane examines the growing role of artificial intelligence. Many people believe that large language models (LLMs) could eventually develop artificial general intelligence, mimicking human cognition. However, Keane aligns with those who view LLMs as mere “stochastic parrots,” capable of generating human-like language but lacking true understanding.

“Robots and AI only seem human because we actively participate in treating them this way,” Keane writes. “As they become powerful, they can start to seem superhuman … But their divinity too is due to human collaboration.”

AI and the illusion of consciousness

Keane challenges the notion that AI represents a fundamentally new ethical subject, arguing that humanity has long encountered similar dilemmas. He warns against “moral panic,” suggesting that our tendency to project human-like qualities onto AI is a continuation of age-old patterns. Just as societies have historically sacralized new technologies or unfamiliar beings, people today are elevating AI to near-divine status.

However, this perspective raises critical questions. First, the idea that LLMs are merely stochastic parrots remains a subject of debate among AI researchers. Some theorists argue that as AI systems become more advanced, they may exhibit emergent forms of reasoning that challenge the distinction between human and machine intelligence. Second, while ethical concerns about AI resemble past dilemmas, the scale and impact of AI’s rise are unprecedented. Unlike historical cases of technological projection, AI is becoming an integral part of global infrastructure, raising profound questions about governance, control, and agency.

The Jeeves analogy and underestimating AI

Keane draws a comparison between AI and the character Jeeves from P.G. Wodehouse’s novels. He recalls the early web search engine Ask Jeeves, which was designed to mimic a polite and knowledgeable but subservient assistant. In Keane’s analysis, this reflects a broader trend of designing AI to appear ego-less, incapable of insult, and solely focused on serving human needs.

Yet, this comparison reveals a potential blind spot. In Wodehouse’s stories, Jeeves is far from a passive servant—he is an intelligent manipulator, often steering his employer, Bertie Wooster, away from questionable decisions. This analogy raises an unsettling counterpoint to Keane’s thesis: What if, instead of overestimating AI’s consciousness, we are actually underestimating its capacity to shape human behavior?

The concern is not just whether AI is self-aware but whether it can subtly influence decision-making in ways that humans fail to recognize. As AI systems become more sophisticated, they may not openly defy human control but instead, like Jeeves, quietly guide human choices while remaining outwardly deferential.

A thought-provoking reflection on ethics and technology

Animals, Robots, Gods is a compelling exploration of how humans navigate moral uncertainty. Keane’s anthropological insights reveal the fluidity of ethical boundaries and challenge readers to reconsider how they perceive AI and other liminal beings. While his argument against AI exceptionalism offers a reassuring perspective, it also raises deeper concerns about the potential for underestimating machine intelligence.

As AI continues to evolve, Keane’s work serves as a timely reminder that human beliefs and projections shape not just how we understand technology but also how we allow it to shape us in return.

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