--- title: "Neuroscientist Warns That Current Generation AIs Are Sociopaths" description: "Without consciousness, AI-powered chatbots are doomed to turn into dangerous sociopaths, Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano warns." date: "2023-01-14" modified: "2023-01-14" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/neuroscientist-current-generation-ais-sociopaths" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "consciousness" - "the digest" --- # Neuroscientist Warns That Current Generation AIs Are Sociopaths ![Without consciousness, AI-powered chatbots are doomed to turn into dangerous sociopaths, Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano warns.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## AI Sociopath Without consciousness, Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano warns in a [new essay]() published by *The Wall Street Journal*, artificial intelligence-powered chatbots are doomed to be dangerous sociopaths that could pose a real danger to human beings. With the rise of chatbots like ChatGPT, powerful systems that can imitate the human mind to an impressive degree, AI tools have become more accessible than ever before. But those algorithms will [glibly fib about anything]() that suits their purpose. To make align them with our values, Graziano thinks, they're going to need consciousness. "Consciousness is part of the tool kit that evolution gave us to make us an empathetic, prosocial species," Graziano writes. "Without it, we would necessarily be sociopaths, because we’d lack the tools for prosocial behavior." ## Empath Machine Sure, ChatGPT isn't about to leap out of the screen and murder somebody. But giving artificial intelligence more and more agency could have very real consequences we should be wary of in the not-so-distant future. To make them more docile, in Graziano's thinking, we should allow them to realize that the world is filled with other minds other than their own. There's one problem, though: we don't have an effective way to know if an AI is conscious or not. In fact, philosophically, it's hard to even really nail down whether other people are conscious. "If we want to know whether a computer is conscious, then, we need to test whether the computer understands how conscious minds interact," Graziano argues. "In other words, we need a reverse Turing test: Let’s see if the computer can tell whether it’s talking to a human or another computer." If we can't figure those tricky questions out, he fears we could face grim consequences. "A sociopathic machine that can make consequential decisions would be powerfully dangerous," he wrote. "For now, chatbots are still limited in their abilities; they’re essentially toys. But if we don’t think more deeply about machine consciousness, in a year or five years we may face a crisis." **READ MORE:** [Without Consciousness, AIs Will Be Sociopaths]() \[*The Wall Street Journal*\] **More on AI:** *[CNET Is Quietly Publishing Entire Articles Generated By AI]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()