August 24, 2025
The Problem of AI That Seems Alive
The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and AnalysisAbout this episode
Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of AI at Microsoft and co-founder of DeepMind, has published a provocative essay warning about the dangers of “seemingly conscious AI.” On today’s Big Think edition of The AI Daily Brief, we explore his argument that as AI systems develop memory, personality, and the illusion of subjective experience, people may begin treating them as conscious beings—with profound consequences for society, law, and human identity. We dig into Suleyman’s case for why this illusion matters more than the question of whether AI is actually conscious, the risks of model welfare debates, and why industry norms may need to change now. Brought to you by: KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcasts Blitzy.com - Go to https://blitzy.com/ to build enterprise software in days, not months Vanta - Simplify compliance - https://vanta.com/nlw Plumb - The automation platform for AI experts and consultants https://useplumb.com/ The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score. The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614 Subscribe to the newsletter: https://aidailybrief.beehiiv.com/ Interested in sponsoring the show? nlw@breakdown.network