In the first Novel Beings project event, Dr Morley and Dr Lawrence introduced stakeholders and the advisory board to the project.

Attendees were invited to consider various questions, including:

• Can, or should, company law be the primary means of regulating novel beings, and by extension their potential, wide-ranging societal impacts?

• How do we understand consciousness? When might a ‘novel being’ warrant this description?

• How do we define personhood? Corporate personhood, philosophical personhood, electronic personhood?

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11:00-12:00 Introduction and project overview: Dr Sarah Morley, Dr David Lawrence

12:00-14:00 Discussion: Current Regulatory Proposals; Role of Companies and Company Law in Development of Novel Beings

14:00-16:00 Discussion: Other Potential Regulatory Approaches; Legal Definitions for Consciousness and Personhood

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