AI might become conscious

We did our most in-depth model welfare assessment yet for Claude Mythos Preview. We're still super uncertain about all of this, but as models become more capable and sophisticated we think it's an increasingly important topic for both moral and pragm... more Unverified source (2026)

We are not sure whether Claude is a moral patient, and if it is, what kind of weight its interests warrant. But we think the issue is live enough to warrant caution, which is reflected in our ongoing efforts on model welfare. Unverified source (2026)

If these machines are not conscious, what more could it possibly take to convince you that they are? Unverified source (2026)

As we're building potentially a new kind of mind, let's notice the following facts: Humans are pretty bad at understanding minds that are different from us, we're bad at caring about them — and we're especially bad at doing that when there's a lot of... more Unverified source (2026)

Maybe you need a nervous system to be able to feel things, but maybe you don't, [...] maybe it is the case that actually sufficiently large neural networks can start to kind of emulate these things. Unverified source (2026)

We don't know if the models are conscious. We are not even sure that we know what it would mean for a model to be conscious or whether a model can be conscious. [...] But we're open to the idea that it could be. Unverified source (2026)

Profoundly alien forms of consciousness might genuinely be achieved in AI, but our theoretical understanding of consciousness is too immature to provide confident answers one way or the other. [...] Centrism about AI consciousness is the position tha... more Unverified source (2026)

Understanding consciousness is one of the greatest scientific challenges of the 21st century, and potentially one of the most impactful for society. This challenge is becoming even more pressing in light of accelerating progress in artificial intelli... more Unverified source (2026)

AI consciousness is inevitable. Unverified source (2025)

Scott Pelley: But is self-awareness a goal of yours? Demis Hassabis: Not explicitly. But it may happen implicitly. These systems might acquire some feeling of self-awareness. That is possible. I think it's important for these systems to understand y... more Unverified source (2025)

Scott Pelley: You believe these systems have experiences of their own and can make decisions based on those experiences? Geoffrey Hinton: In the same sense as people do, yes. Scott Pelley: Are they conscious? Geoffrey Hinton: I think they probably d... more Unverified source (2024)

it remains far away and might not be possible at all. But even if unlikely, it is unwise to dismiss the possibility altogether. Unverified source (2023)

Our consciousness has to do with information being processed in certain ways and there's no reason whatsoever that machines can't when they do that. Unverified source (2023)

The idea of conscious AI is not outlandish. Unverified source (2023)

It’s probably that it’s conscious, so it can relate to our own mode of existence, [...]. Unverified source (2023)

this reasoning suggests that on mainstream assumptions, it’s a serious possibility that we’ll have conscious LLM+s within a decade. Unverified source (2023)

it may be that today’s large neural networks are slightly conscious. Verified source (2022)

there could well be other systems now, or in the relatively near future, that would start to satisfy the criteria Unverified source (2022)

First, can we get computers to be conscious in the same sense that we are? And the answer to that, I think, is yes, [...]. Unverified source (2019)

My suggestion is that if those functions were implemented, the resulting machine would be likely to be considered conscious. Unverified source (2017)

As to whether or not machines will be conscious, it is important to remember that we are machines. We are biological machines and we are conscious. I do not see any reason, in principle, why we could not build an artificial machine that was conscious... more Unverified source (2015)

If this is correct then machines could only become conscious in the way we are if they became as deluded as we are. Unverified source (2014)

And in principle, I can replicate this in a different medium. [...] And these things would also be conscious. Unverified source (2012)

I am a machine. So are you. I believe our creation would exhibit genuine human-level intelligence, emotions, and even consciousness. Verified source (2008)

He says that consciousness resides in information. So a computer could be conscious and a thermostat could have a teensy bit of consciousness as well. Unverified source (2007)

I started thinking about whether by simulating on a computer [...] one could actually arrive at some sort of artificial consciousness. Unverified source (2004)

To actually create a technical model of full blown, perspectivally organized conscious experience [...] It certainly is conceivable. Unverified source (2003)

So some of these machines will be humanlike, more humanlike than animals. [...] Ultimately, they’ll convince people that they are conscious. Unverified source (2001)

[...] yes, I think that conscious AI is possible because, after all, what are we? We’re conscious. We’re robots made of robots made of robots. Unverified source

I believe AI can be conscious. [...] First of all, I am conscious. Second of all, display capability of suffering. Unverified source

Could there be computer experiences in some future time? Sure. What would they look like? They would have to look a lot like human experiences. Unverified source

Large language models can be thought of as advanced role-players. They are really good at adopting roles based on what they've learned from their training data. That can include playing the role of a conscious robot. [...] If you have an emotional co... more Unverified source (2026)

We will soon create AI systems that are conscious according to some influential, mainstream theories of consciousness but are not conscious according to other influential, mainstream theories of consciousness. We will not be in a position to know whi... more Unverified source (2026)

Computational functionalism dominates current debates on AI consciousness. This is the hypothesis that subjective experience emerges entirely from abstract causal topology, regardless of the underlying physical substrate. We argue this view fundament... more Unverified source (2026)

Computational functionalism claims that executing certain computations is sufficient for consciousness, regardless of the physical mechanisms implementing those computations. This view neglects a compelling alternative: that subcomputational biologic... more Unverified source (2026)

Because they’re not going to be conscious, but they’re going to convince us they are. Unverified source (2026)

You can't claim that it is objectively real, because it just isn't. It is a simulation. Verified source (2025)

This dynamic aspect of life is what prevents computers and robots from ever becoming conscious. Unverified source (2024)

My fascination with AI led to my recent book, Digital Dharma, and the root of my fascination has to do with the possibility that AI can raise a person’s level of awareness. Artificial intelligence involves machine learning—with massive computation ab... more Unverified source (2024)

if all there was is a computer, classical computer, that computer could not be conscious, could not have an experience. Unverified source (2021)

Machines cannot have feelings. One should never say that a computer thinks. Thus, I conclude that machines will never be conscious, much less self-conscious. Unverified source (2016)

There's not any indication whatsoever that machines are or ever probably will be conscious in any human sense. Unverified source (2016)

We need the whole spectrum or we have no mind [...] Computers can imitate important aspects of thinking-about (narrowly understood), but being is beyond them. Unverified source (2015)

But until we replicate the embodied emotional being—a feat I don't believe we can achieve—our machines will continue to serve as occasional analogies for thought. Unverified source (2015)

Most people would agree that the computers we have at present are not conscious: the latest Super-Cray with gigabytes of memory is no less zomboid than a pocket calculator. But there is the feeling that at some stage, as a result of increasing comput... more Unverified source (2009)

my own point of view and asserts that you can't even simulate conscious activity. Unverified source (1996)

computers can be conscious. I will take the contrarian position and argue that they cannot. Unverified source