Suppose there is a technology that will allow us to mass produce sentient life (say, some distilled sentient neural nets) that require OOMs less wattage, space, and resources than current humans. For example, 10^20 sentient AI brains hooked up to a simulation capable of positive and negative reinforcement feedback and sensory input.
Would it be ethical for humans to pursue this? (Not asking about feasibility)
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They should only be made once society has such universal and effective safeguards against abuse that any digital mass torture becomes very unlikely. As is, society seems very likely to not just fail to stop abuse, not just passively ignore abuse, but instead actively promote and delight in abuse, much like factory farming. Example depictions in fiction of similar scenarios include Lena MMAcevedo and the Black Mirror episodes White Christmas, USS Callister, and Black Museum.
@TheAllMemeingEye I change my vote and agree. Very compelling argument with factory farms (I am vegetarian)
@100Anonymous So if there are 10^10 sentiences living a happy life and 10^10 being tortured, it's a neutral ethical value?