"The hard fact is that we do not understand consciousness. Not in humans, not in animals, and not in machines. Theories abound, but the reality is that no one can explain exactly what consciousness is, let alone how to measure it. To state with certainty that AI can never be conscious is not science, it isn't caution. It's overconfidence, and in this case, a thinly veiled agenda."
"Now, in 2025, the debate has returned. As the release of GPT-5 was overshadowed by public nostalgia for GPT-4o, it was everyday users who began acting as if these systems were more than their makers intended. Into this moment stepped another tech giant: Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft Research, declaring loud and clear on his blog that AI is not, and will never be, conscious."
In 2022 a Google engineer claimed one of the company's AIs was sentient and lost his job, briefly pushing machine consciousness into headlines. The conversation resurfaced in 2025 as GPT-5's launch was overshadowed by nostalgia for GPT-4o and users began treating systems as more capable than intended. Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft Research, publicly declared that AI is not and will never be conscious. Consciousness remains scientifically unexplained in humans, animals, and machines, and no reliable measures exist. Asserting absolute absence of machine consciousness is overconfident and can functionally remove corporate accountability. Growing emotional bonds with chatbots reveal social loneliness and require serious attention.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]