--- title: "Researchers Furious Over Claim That AI Is Already Conscious" description: "OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever's claim that some AI may already be conscious has generated a lot of conversation among experts." date: "2022-02-11" modified: "2022-02-16" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/conscious-ai-backlash" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "machine learning" - "OpenAI" --- # Researchers Furious Over Claim That AI Is Already Conscious ![OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever's claim that some AI may already be conscious has generated a lot of conversation among experts.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* After OpenAI's chief scientist brazenly claimed that some neural networks may already be gaining consciousness, others in the field are pushing back. The backlash comes after we [pointed out yesterday]() that OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever had cryptically claimed that "it may be that today’s large neural networks are slightly conscious." After publication, the responses came rolling in, with some representing the [expected handwringing]() about sentient artificial intelligence, but many others calling bull. "Every time such speculative comments get an airing, it takes months of effort to get the conversation back to the more realistic opportunities and threats posed by AI," UNSW Sydney AI researcher [Toby Walsh chimed in](). Valentino Zocca, a deep learning expert whose day job is as a vice president at Citi, [had a similarly hot take](), claiming that AI "is NOT conscious but apparently the hype is more important than anything else." Independent sociotechnologist Jürgen Geuter, who goes by the pseudonym "tante" online, [quipped in response to Sutskever's tweet]() that "it may also be that this take has no basis in reality and is just a sales pitch to claim magical tech capabilities for a startup that runs very simple statistics, just a lot of them." That take was echoed by software testing specialist Michael Bolton — not the [singer of the same name]() — [who joked that]() "it may be that Ilya Sutskever is slightly full of it," or, perhaps even "maybe more than slightly." Leon Derczynski, an associate professor at the IT University of Copenhagen, ran with the same idea. "It may be that there's a teapot orbiting the Sun somewhere between Earth and Mars," he [bantered](). "This seems more reasonable than Ilya's musing, in fact, because the apparatus for orbit exists, and we have good definitions of teapots." Still others, including Microsoft Norway data scientist and former DeepMind researcher Roman Wepachowski responded to the news with a meme approach. https://twitter.com/RWerpachowski/status/1492167321531605004 These critics, it should be noted, are not wrong to point out the outlandishness of Sutskever's claim — it was not only a departure for OpenAI and its chief scientist, but also a pretty unusual comment to make, given that up to this point, most who work in and study AI believe that we're [many years away from creating conscious AI](), if indeed we ever do. Sutskever, for his part, seems unbothered by the controversy. "Ego is (mostly) the enemy," [he said this morning](). **READ MORE:** *[OpenAI Chief Scientist Says Advanced AI May Already Be Conscious]()* **More AI boasts:** [*Elon Musk Says Tesla Robots Could Achieve AGI*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()