nonsentient

Nonsentient is an adjective used to describe beings or things that lack sentience, the capacity to have subjective experiences such as feelings, sensations, or thoughts. In philosophy and ethics, sentience is distinguished from consciousness (awareness) and sapience (cognitive wisdom). A nonsentient entity would not experience pain, pleasure, or moods; it can respond to stimuli through automatic processes without any subjective experience.

The term is commonly applied to inanimate objects (rocks, water, machines) and, in some contexts, to organisms whose sentience is denied or disputed, such as some plants or microorganisms depending on the definitional framework. In contemporary science, many researchers reserve "sentience" for organisms with a nervous system capable of subjective experience; by that standard, AI systems, simple machines, and most plants are considered nonsentient. However, debates exist about the moral relevance of potential sentience in non-human life or artificial systems, and some theories propose broader or narrower criteria for what counts as experience.

The word derives from the Latin sentire "to feel" with the prefix non- indicating negation. In usage, "nonsentient" contrasts with "sentient" and with terms like "conscious" or "aware," reflecting a line drawn between those beings or things considered capable of subjective experience and those that are not.

See also: sentience; consciousness; animal welfare; AI ethics.