Human exceptionalism is the belief that humans are the most superior or important entity in the universe, deserving special consideration above other forms of life. Webb argues this belief permeates scientific research despite science’s self-presentation as value-free, shaping what questions researchers ask, what methodologies they employ, and how they interpret results. Her work with Kristin Andrews and Jonathan Birch demonstrates that values drive research questions, methodological choices, statistical interpretation, and the framing of results, meaning these human-centered values influence empirical knowledge as much as the data itself. This creates systematic biases where research assumes human priorities as universal standards rather than recognizing them as one perspective among many.

Statistical significance thresholds like p < 0.05 were originally developed for tightly controlled laboratory and industrial experiments optimized for human purposes. When applied to animal welfare studies, these conventions can dismiss subtle but genuine behavioral changes—like shifts in grooming patterns, gaze direction, or social spacing—as statistically insignificant even when they reflect real distress or preferences. This reveals anthropocentric bias because the standards privilege human experimental contexts and measurement scales, potentially missing signals that would be meaningful from nonhuman perspectives. The thresholds define what counts as evidence based on human research traditions rather than what might constitute significant communication or expression for other species.

AI research displays anthropomorphism—attributing human characteristics to nonhuman entities—through language that projects human cognition onto statistical systems. Researchers describe models as hallucinating, reasoning, or aligning, all metaphors that suggest human-like mental processes rather than describing actual computational operations. This language betrays both anthropocentrism (centering human perspectives) and anthropomorphism (imagining nonhuman things as behaving like humans). The framing centers our self-image rather than the systems’ actual operations, revealing how deeply human-centric thinking shapes not just AI development but even how we conceptualize and communicate about what AI systems do. This linguistic pattern reinforces the broader bias of modeling intelligence exclusively on human templates.

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This article is rated Intermediate because it introduces complex philosophical concepts—anthropocentrism, human exceptionalism, methodological bias—through accessible everyday examples like AI doctor images and animal welfare studies. Readers must follow abstract arguments about how values shape science while tracking connections between disparate domains (animal research, AI development, evolutionary biology). The vocabulary includes specialized terms but the writing maintains conversational clarity through concrete illustrations. The moss thought experiment requires imaginative engagement with alternative frameworks for intelligence, asking readers to temporarily suspend human-centric thinking. While the ideas are sophisticated, the presentation through interview format and specific examples makes advanced concepts approachable without requiring specialized background in philosophy, anthropology, or AI research.

Webb, drawing on Robin Wall Kimmerer’s work, points out that mosses have survived for approximately 500 million years compared to humans’ relatively recent 200,000 years, suggesting their survival strategies represent profoundly successful evolutionary adaptations. Their success comes not through competition and dominance—the model human intelligence follows—but through creating highly diverse, thriving multi-species communities where their survival depends on supporting other organisms. This represents fundamentally different intelligence prioritizing coexistence and ecological resilience. By this measure, mosses have achieved far greater evolutionary success than humans, whose dominance-based approach has only existed for a geological instant and currently threatens planetary ecosystems. Webb’s point challenges human-centric definitions of success and intelligence.

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