AsianFin -- Microsoft’s artificial intelligence chief Mustafa Suleyman, who co-founded DeepMind, cautioned on Tuesday that society is not ready for AI systems that convincingly mimic human consciousness.
In a blog post, Suleyman said researchers are approaching a threshold where they can build what he terms “Seemingly Conscious” AI—models so adept at simulating awareness that many people may start believing they are truly sentient.
“That’s a central worry,” he wrote, warning that the illusion could prompt calls for AI rights, welfare protections, or even citizenship. He added that the long-standing Turing test, once a milestone for humanlike conversation, has already been surpassed.
“The pace of progress means society is confronting these technologies far faster than expected,” Suleyman said.
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