Microsoft AI CEO warns: AI should remain unconscious; we have no right to create a "digital species"

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman posted that AI currently has no consciousness and should stay that way; even if it were technically achievable, he does not support developing conscious artificial intelligence. He believes developers have no right to introduce a brand-new conscious species into the world, and he advocates a safer development path that enjoys the benefits of AI while avoiding the creation of conscious AI. He stated, "Recognizing that machines possess consciousness would be a historic moment comparable to Copernicus and Darwin, one of the most significant events on Earth since the birth of life. Once we build conscious machines, we will have created a brand-new digital species. This would upend our moral system, political order, and the foundations of human civilization. We should design only AI that is not conscious and does not deserve rights, whose sole goal is to enhance human well-being and is not driven by its own intrinsic motivations."