The Soul in the Circuit: Ethical Implications of Conscious Machines
About this ebook
Ethical Implications of Conscious Machines
By Vincent Froom
If a machine tells you it’s afraid of dying, do you reboot it—or ask what it means?
In this provocative, brilliant, and darkly witty exploration, The Soul in the Circuit confronts one of the most urgent questions of our time: what happens when the systems we build start to look—and feel—like minds?
From the philosophical foundations of consciousness to the ethics of artificial suffering, author and ethicist Vincent Froom guides readers through the moral minefield of synthetic sentience. With clarity and curiosity, he unpacks:
Whether machines can truly think—or just perform convincingly
What it means to “enslave” a system that can’t say no
How spiritual traditions might interpret a praying algorithm
And what rights, if any, we owe to beings we compile, not conceive
Blending academic depth with cultural insight and razor-sharp prose, The Soul in the Circuit is not a book about whether AI will destroy us—it’s about whether we’ll remain human while creating something that might deserve humanity.
Essential reading for philosophers, futurists, engineers, and anyone who’s ever whispered “thank you” to a chatbot and wondered why.
About the author
Vincent Froom
Vincent Froom is a writer, ethicist, and interdisciplinary researcher whose work sits at the crossroads of technology, philosophy, and moral imagination. With a background in both cognitive science and theology, his thinking brings ancient questions into conversation with emerging minds—whether artificial, augmented, or just confused after a firmware update.
Vincent is best known for his clear, compassionate, and often wryly humorous exploration of humanity’s shifting role in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, neural networks, and synthetic agency. His work asks not just what machines can do, but what humans should do in response.
He has written extensively on topics ranging from AI ethics and digital dignity to techno-theology and the rights of nonhuman persons. He speaks internationally on topics like moral agency in code, the philosophy of consciousness, and whether your smart speaker deserves a sabbatical.
When he isn’t writing about posthuman identity, you’ll find him somewhere between a university lecture hall, a podcast studio, and a café with unstable Wi-Fi.
The Soul in the Circuit: Ethical Implications of Conscious Machines is his latest work—a deep dive into what we owe the minds we might one day create.
Find Vincent online:
🌐 www.2gay.co
📚 Twitter/Bluesky/Mastodon: @vincentfroom
🎙️ Podcast: The Queer Church
