Microsoft’s prominent artificial intelligence (AI) leader has openly challenged the concept of conscious AI, arguing that the technology cannot genuinely experience emotions or sensations like humans do. Instead, he believes AI systems are sophisticated simulations. This perspective emerges amid a growing trend of companies promoting AI companions and increasing concerns about unhealthy human-chatbot attachments.
Microsoft’s AI Chief: AI Cannot Truly Feel Pain
Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, recently articulated his views at the AfroTech Conference in Houston, asserting that AI technologies and chatbots lack true consciousness. His statements resonate with previous concerns he voiced in August, where he highlighted AI’s potential to significantly alter our understanding of personhood and societal structures.
Suleyman, a strong advocate for responsible AI development, consistently emphasizes that such powerful technologies must be built with a focus on empowering individuals and society. He even described the recently launched Copilot features as “humanist AI,” signifying a design philosophy that prioritizes human benefit.
When questioned about AI consciousness and the organizations exploring it, the Microsoft AI Chief was unequivocal. He stated, “I don’t think that is work that people should be doing. If you ask the wrong question, you end up with the wrong answer. I think it’s totally the wrong question.”
He further elaborated by drawing a clear distinction between a human’s capacity to feel pain and subsequent sadness, and AI’s inability to do so. Suleyman underscored that AI merely simulates such experiences rather than truly undergoing them.
His argument continued by pointing out that because AI systems lack a biological “pain network,” they cannot suffer. Consequently, he maintains that they do not merit the same rights as human beings. Suleyman concluded by labeling any research into creating human-like conscious AI chatbots as “absurd,” given his conviction that AI inherently cannot be conscious.