Applications are now LIVE for the Futurekind Fellowship Fall 2026/27. The cohort will commence from 15th November - 15th February 2027, tentatively.
Futurekind Fellowship is a free of cost learning experience exploring the AI X Animal advocacy intersection. Following three successful cohorts of 360 fellows from across 50+ countries, this cohort introduces a major focus - “Crowdsourcing active problems from various animal welfare organizations, NGOs and welfare groups and turning those live field bottlenecks into functional AI tools.
Applications close October 15th 2026. We are also actively recruiting paid facilitators / mentors for the fellowship.
👉 Apply as a Fellow | 👉 Apply as a Paid Facilitator / Mentor
Why This Matters
AI will shape not only our future but also of the animals on our planet. We already see how AI is being utilised towards automated factory farming and the way frontier language models represent animal sentience and welfare, in public knowledge ecosystems. While further exploitation of animals is being carried out with the help of AI, there are very few initiatives that are building talent and research to utilise AI to protect animals rather than improving systems to exploit them.
Electric Sheep’s Futurekind Fellowship is one of those initiatives that bridges the gap by empowering researchers, animal advocates, welfarist, technologists with the right knowledge, mentorship, community and building high impact interventions towards the AI X Animal protection front.
Since our previous cohort, Electric Sheep has established a physical hub in Bangalore, India, hosting hackathons, animal rights coding camps, and co-working weeks. Top projects from the fellowship are directed towards our Incubator pipeline, connecting promising concepts for mentorship and resources.
What’s New for Fall 2026: Crowdsourced NGO Problem Briefs
In the last three cohorts, fellows brainstormed problems in the AI X Animal protection front and then built tools to resolve the same, but in this iteration we are crowdsourcing active problems from various animal welfare / protection NGOs, groups.
During the 4 week project phase, fellows will work in mentored teams to address these challenges, resulting in practical outputs such as tools, datasets, automations, etc. which NGOs can immediately deploy.
🗓 Program Structure (Nov 15, 2026 – Feb 15, 2027)
The fellowship is fully online, free of charge:
1. Immersion Block (Weeks 1–6)
A foundational dive into key topics at the AI - animal interface:
- AI–Animal Frontier: Overview of risks and opportunities.
- AI vs. Factory Farming: Technological risks and welfare monitoring.
- Animal Communication & AI: Decoding species signals and bioacoustics.
- AI Governance & Policy: Integrating animal welfare into AI safety frameworks.
- AI-Powered Advocacy: Tools and strategies for high-impact campaigns.
2. Specialization Track (Weeks 7–8)
Fellows select one of three dedicated pathways to build domain depth:
- Builder Track: Developing technical tools, software, or AI automations for advocacy.
- Researcher Track: Conducting policy research, governance analysis, or academic writing.
- Career Developer Track: Mapping out career trajectories across AI safety, governance, and animal ethics.
3. Project Sprint (Weeks 9–12)
Fellows transition from theory to practice. Guided by experienced mentors, teams work on live NGO problems to deliver actionable tools, research pieces, or strategic frameworks. Promising outputs may be invited into the Futurekind Incubator for ongoing development.
Track Record & Past Cohort Outcomes
Across our previous iterations:
- 360 fellows selected from 50+ countries
- 8.4/ 10 overall satisfaction score for the last cohort
- 68.6 % average attendance and a 45.3 % project completion rate for the last cohort
Alumni Project Highlights:
- PASTA — Protein Analog Screening with Taste & Allergen-aware ranking (Anna Antipova) App
An open-source search tool using a protein language model to find plant-based functional analogs for animal proteins in a 3.3-million-protein database.
- Can Multilingual AI Improve Animal Welfare Information Access? (Karan Verma) File
A pilot benchmark investigating how large language models communicate animal welfare concepts across English, Hindi, and Punjabi.
Who Should Apply?
No coding skills or a formal background in animal activism is required. We seek people with curiosity, and an alignment with high impact principles and a drive to solve problems
We specifically encourage applications from:
- Technologists, coders, and data scientists looking to learn how apply their skills to animal protection
- Researchers, policy analysts, and students interested in AI safety and animal ethics
- Candidates from the Global Majority who can help shape technology and governance for everyone.
Call for Facilitators & Mentors
We are also hiring up to 15 paid facilitators and recruiting project mentors:
- Facilitators (~25 hours total commitment): Lead weekly small-group discussion sessions (10–12 fellows) following provided reading guides.
- Mentors (~10+ hours total commitment): Guide 1–4 fellows through their project sprint during Weeks 9–12.
Key Details & How to Apply
- Program Dates: November 15, 2026 – February 15, 2027 (tentative)
- Application Deadline: October 15, 2026
- Cost: Free
- Format: Remote / Online (~4–6 hours/week)
About Electric Sheep
This era of AI depicts wide possibilities. Each day new opportunities arise in how to utilize AI towards disease prevention, leisure, and purpose. But the potential of mishandling this technology also poses a serious risk, especially for our planet and its ecosystems and the vulnerable animal lives.
Electric Sheep is an organisation dedicated to raising awareness towards these dangers and teaching individuals on how to take control and create solutions for it. Our vision is to construct a world where we build secure and compassionate AI which enhances the welfare of all beings on our planet.
And we will achieve this through learning, collaborating, building and empowering people like you to create impactful projects. By participating in one of our courses, hackathons, accelerators, you are becoming a part of a community working towards the same goal - 'Making AI go well for People, Planet and All Living Things.'
Whether you are a coder looking for a more meaningful challenge, a researcher focused on making AI safer for the planet and its beings, an NGO or government worker exploring the potential of AI, or simply someone intrigued by AI who wants to ensure its positive impact - we will provide you with the tools, understanding, collaborators, mentorship, support, and investment you need to help build a better AI future for all.
If you want to help shape the future of AI and animal protection and turn your ideas into real-world impact we’d love to hear from you.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below or reach out directly to [email protected]