--- title: "Microsoft Executive Says AI Is a “New Kind of Digital Species”" description: "DeepMind cofounder and Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman wants you to think of AI as a new \"digital species.\"" date: "2024-04-30" modified: "2024-04-30" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/microsoft-executive-ai-digital-species" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "DeepMind" - "microsoft ai" - "mustafa suleyman" --- # Microsoft Executive Says AI Is a “New Kind of Digital Species” ![DeepMind cofounder and Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman wants you to think of AI as a new "digital species."]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* DeepMind cofounder and Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman took the stage at TED2024 last week to [lay out his vision]() for an AI-driven future. And according to the AI boss, if you really want to grasp how impactful AI might be to the human species, it might be useful to think of AI as another "species" entirely. "I think AI should best be understood as something like a new digital species," Suleyman — who [left the Google-owned DeepMind lab in 2022]() — told the crowd. "Now, don't take this too literally," he admonished, "but I predict that we'll come to see them as digital companions, new partners in the journeys of all our lives." In short, Suleyman's prediction seems to be that AI agents will play a deeply involved role in human lives, performing tasks with more agency than now-conventional devices like computers and smartphones. This means they'll be less like tools, and more like buzzy virtual beings — and thus, according to Suleyman, akin to another "species" entirely. As for what this world would actually look like in practice, Suleyman's predictions, as further delineated in his TED Talk, feel like they're straight out of a sci-fi novel. According to Suleyman, "everything" — as in, the entire web — "will soon be represented by a conversational interface" experienced by way of a "personal AI," or a digital assistant unique to its users. What's more, said the Microsoft executive, these AIs will be "infinitely knowledgable, and soon they'll be factually accurate and reliable." "They'll have near-perfect IQ," he added. "They'll also have exceptional EQ. They'll be kind, supportive, empathetic." Already, though, this vision needs some caveats. Though the AI industry and the tech within it have undoubtedly experienced a period of rapid acceleration, existing available chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini-formerly-Bard have repeatedly proven to be [factually unreliable](). And on the "EQ" side, it's unclear whether AI programs will ever [successfully mimic]() the human emotional experience — not to mention whether their doing so would be [positive or negative for us]() in the long run. But these attributes, according to Suleyman, would still just be the beginning. Per the CEO, things will "really start to change" when AIs start to "actually get stuff done in the digital and physical world." And at that point, Suleyman says, "these won't just be "mechanistic assistants." "They'll be companions, confidants, colleagues, friends and partners, as varied and unique as we all are," said Suleyman. "They'll speak every language, take in every pattern of sensor data, sights, sounds, streams and streams of information, far surpassing what any one of us could consume in a thousand lifetimes." So in other words, they'll be something like supergenius Tomogatchis embedded into every aspect of our on- and offline lives. But again, while this future is a fascinating prediction to consider, it's still a prediction. It's also a decidedly rosy one. To wit: though Suleyman [recently admitted]() that AI is "fundamentally" a "labor-replacing" technology, any realities of what mass labor-displacement would mean for human society was noticeably missing from the imagined AI utopia that the CEO shared with the TED crowd. In fact, when later asked about AI risks, Suleyman made the case that AI's future benefits will ultimately "speak for themselves" regardless of any short-term ill effects. "In the past," he said, "unlocking economic growth often came with huge downsides. The economy expanded as people discovered new continents and opened up new frontiers. But they colonized populations at the same time. We built factories, but they were grim and dangerous places to work. We struck oil, but we polluted the planet." But AI, he says, is different. "Today, we're not discovering a new continent and plundering its resources," said the CEO. "We're building one from scratch." Already, though, it could be argued that this isn't exactly true. Building generative AI especially has come at great cost to workers in Africa, many of whom have recounted facing [serious and life-changing trauma]() due to the grim content moderation work required to train AI models like OpenAI's GPT large language models — models that Suleyman's new employer, Microsoft, are heavily invested in. Suleyman's optimism is easy to understand. He holds a powerful industry position, and has had a large hand in developing legitimately groundbreaking AI programs including DeepMind's AlphaGo and AlphaFold innovations. Moving forward, we'd argue that it's important to pay attention to the scenarios that folks like Suleyman put forward as humanity's possible AI futures — and perhaps more importantly, the less-glimmering details they leave out in the process. **More on Suleyman:** [*Former Google Exec Warns AI Could Create a Deadly Plague*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()