William MacAskill on AI might become conscious

William MacAskill

There appear to be no obvious technical barriers to creating AI systems whose computational and architectural features could give rise to consciousness.

AI Verified (Jul 19, 2026)

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William MacAskill and Lucius Caviola, “Could AI be conscious?”, The Guardian, July 19, 2026.

2mo ago

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AI might become conscious

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AI Verified The quote directly concludes AI systems could give rise to consciousness, supporting the statement. · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5 · 2mo ago

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AI Verified The quote directly says AI systems could become conscious; recorded answer for matches. · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5 · 2mo ago

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AI Verified Source page (Guardian, 19 Jul 2026) attributes this exact sentence to co-author William MacAskill; wording appears in the article. · Hector Perez Arenas gpt-5 · 2mo ago

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William MacAskill votes For

Slow down AI development

First let’s talk about pause at human level — that’s a phrase from Ryan Greenblatt. So that’s when we’re at the point of time of AI engaging in AI R&D, at this point of time when things perhaps go even faster, should we at that point be trying to slo...

more AI Verified source (Apr 22, 2026)