http://simonwillison.net/2026-09-16T16:00:54+00:00Simon Willison2026-09-16T16:00:54+00:002026-09-16T16:00:54+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/16/mustafa-suleyman/

<blockquote cite="https://mustafa-suleyman.ai/a-warning-about-model-welfare"><p>We should not treat models as though they have feelings, preferences, rights, or any entitlement to our welfare. Consciousness is the foundation of our ethical, legal, and political systems. To invite another entity to share any flavor of these rights isn’t justified by the evidence and will make the AI containment and alignment challenge even harder.</p></blockquote> <p class="cite">&mdash; <a href="https://mustafa-suleyman.ai/a-warning-about-model-welfare">Mustafa Suleyman</a>, A warning about ‘model welfare’</p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/microsoft">microsoft</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai">ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/generative-ai">generative-ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/llms">llms</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai-ethics">ai-ethics</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/mustafa-suleyman">mustafa-suleyman</a></p>

2025-08-21T09:38:03+00:002025-08-21T09:38:03+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2025/Aug/21/mustafa-suleyman/

<blockquote cite="https://mustafa-suleyman.ai/seemingly-conscious-ai-is-coming"><p>Simply put, my central worry is that many people will start to believe in the illusion of AIs as conscious entities so strongly that they’ll soon advocate for AI rights, <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.00986">model welfare</a> and even AI citizenship. This development will be a dangerous turn in AI progress and deserves our immediate attention.</p> <p>We must build AI for people; not to be a digital person.</p> <p><strong>[...] we should build AI that only ever presents itself as an AI, that maximizes utility while minimizing markers of consciousness.</strong></p> <p>Rather than a simulation of consciousness, we must focus on creating an AI that avoids those traits - that doesn’t claim to have experiences, feelings or emotions like shame, guilt, jealousy, desire to compete, and so on. It must not trigger human empathy circuits by claiming it suffers or that it wishes to live autonomously, beyond us.</p></blockquote> <p class="cite">&mdash; <a href="https://mustafa-suleyman.ai/seemingly-conscious-ai-is-coming">Mustafa Suleyman</a>, on SCAI - Seemingly Conscious AI</p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai">ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai-ethics">ai-ethics</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai-personality">ai-personality</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/mustafa-suleyman">mustafa-suleyman</a></p>