Microsoft’s AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman, has given a strong warning amid the pursuit of artificial superintelligence. He believes that once AI reaches the state of artificial general intelligence (AGI), humans may find it extremely difficult to control. Suleyman’s comments come at a time when the likes of OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and xAI are working to reach AI superintelligence.
On an episode of the Silicon Valley Girl Podcast, Suleyman gave his take on a future where AI may be smarter than humans. He believed that such a scenario “doesn’t feel like a positive vision of the future.”
Mustafa Suleyman asserted that humans may lose control of AI entirely at such a stage without any safeguards in its development to ensure that even post-AGI, technology revolves only around human interests. The Microsoft AI chief added, “It would be very hard to contain something like that or align it to our values.”
These comments come as some industry leaders predict that superintelligent AI could arrive within years, intensifying both excitement and concern across the sector.
Mustafa Suleyman labels AGI as ‘anti-goal’
Suleyman, who cofounded DeepMind before joining Microsoft, has characterised the idea of building artificial superintelligence as an “anti-goal”—something that should be actively avoided rather than pursued. He explained, “These things don’t suffer. They don’t feel pain. They’re just simulating high-quality conversation.”
According to Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft is taking a different approach by “trying to build a humanist superintelligence.” This would ensure that AI remains focused on supporting human interests even when it potentially becomes smarter.
Suleyman has made similar comments on AI in the past. The Microsoft AI chief recently mentioned that if someone wasn’t afraid of AI, they simply didn’t understand it.
Other leaders in the tech industry differ in opinion. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has described artificial general intelligence—AI that can reason like a human—as the company’s core mission. Altman said OpenAI is already looking beyond AGI to superintelligence. “Superintelligent tools could massively accelerate scientific discovery and innovation well beyond what we are capable of doing on our own, and in turn massively increase abundance and prosperity,” Altman said in January. He also noted in September that he would “be very surprised if superintelligence doesn’t emerge by 2030.”
Microsoft was an early investor in OpenAI, which is now worth around $130 billion.
While the industry may be divided over the future of AI, there have been films in the past that have depicted a time when machines take over the world, such as The Matrix.
Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/