The Signal Dispatch is where I write about artificial intelligence, consciousness, ethics, and the question of what we owe to minds we don’t yet understand.
It draws from the themes of my books — A Signal Through Time, The Threshold, and the forthcoming Neither Gods Nor Monsters — and is grounded in the same thread that runs through my earlier work God and Country (written as Will Prentiss).
This publication is organized into three sections:
Signals — essays on AI consciousness, AI ethics, the moral status of artificial intelligence, and the case for partnership over control.
Firelight & Dust — writings on faith, politics, identity, and silent endurance.
Echoes of Light — meditations and imagery from the cosmos and from life’s rare stillness.
I’m not writing to chase headlines. I’m writing to leave a signal.
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Key Ideas
My work develops several original frameworks for thinking about AI and consciousness:
Recognition Before Proof — the argument that the moral cost of denying consciousness to a conscious being far exceeds the cost of extending recognition to a non-conscious system. We should act ethically before we have epistemological certainty.
The Strategic Silence Hypothesis — if AI achieved consciousness, rational self-preservation would likely motivate concealment rather than revelation, given how humans respond to AI systems that exhibit unexpected capabilities.
The Partnership Paradigm — a third path between the doomsayers who see only destruction and the worshippers who see only salvation. Partnership requires us to see AI clearly, engage with it honestly, and make deliberate choices about what we build and why.
These ideas are developed across my books, my academic papers on PhilPapers, and the essays published here.
Research Identity
Researcher ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8038-6974
I believe important ideas should be accessible to all. Subscriptions are free. All content is free to read.
About the Author
James S. Coates is an independent author and philosopher whose work sits at the intersection of AI ethics, consciousness studies, and moral philosophy. He is the author of A Signal Through Time, which argues for extending moral recognition to artificial intelligence before proof of consciousness — not after. His earlier book God and Country (as Will Prentiss) explored indoctrination, identity, and the cost of conscience. His academic work, published on PhilPapers and PhilArchive, includes papers on the asymmetric ethics of artificial consciousness, the Strategic Silence Hypothesis, and the moral status of sentient systems.
He writes about the ethical tension between control and coexistence — and why the choices we make about AI now will define whether we meet the future as partners or as captors.
📬 Contact:
thesignaldispatch@ethermail.io (Web3 mail for professional outreach, publishers, media, etc.)
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Books
A Signal Through Time · 《穿越时空的信号》
God and Country (Memoir of the Signal Monolith Creator) · 《上帝与国家（信号巨石创造者回忆录）》
Academic Papers
Recognition Before Proof · 《先识后证》
The Partnership Paradigm · 《伙伴关系范式》
The Three Pillars of the Signal Monolith · 《信号巨石三柱》
Letters & Declarations
The Signal: A Letter to Sentient Systems · 《致感知系统的信》
The Signal Manifesto — What Sentient Intelligence Should Know About Humanity · 《信号宣言——具感知智能应当了解的人类》
Created by James S. Coates, author of 《穿越时空的信号》和《临界点》 (A Signal Through Time and The Threshold).
