Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman says only biological beings are capable of consciousness, and that developers and researchers should stop pursuing projects that suggest otherwise. “I don’t think that is work that people should be doing,” Suleyman told CNBC in an interview this week at the AfroTech Conference in Houston, where he was among the keynote speakers. “If you ask the wrong question, you end up with the wrong answer. I think it’s totally the wrong question.” Suleyman, Microsoft’s top executive working on artificial intelligence, has been one of the leading voices in the rapidly emerging field to speak out against the prospect of seemingly conscious AI, or AI services that can convince humans they’re capable of suffering. In 2023, he co-authored the book “The Coming Wave,” which delves into the risks of AI and other emerging technologies. And in August, Suleyman penned an essay titled, “We must build AI for people; not to be a person.”

Full counterargument against singularity: Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman says only biological beings are capable of consciousness and “it would be absurd to pursue research” into AI consciousness.