Blaise Agüera y Arcas on AI
2 quotes from Blaise Agüera y Arcas on the wall, 2026, newest first. Each one is verbatim and links to where it was said. Sources include GIGAZINE.
To evolve both our thinking and society to accept a wider variety of minds
Blaise Agüera y Arcas, Google VP of Technology and Society, in a 2026 Economist essay arguing against equating AI with humans while urging broader moral consideration.
What it refers to
A conclusion from his essay on how society should treat AI systems that may show signs of mind-like behavior without claiming they are conscious like humans.
Other voices
- AIs do not have rights, feelings, or consciousnessMustafa SuleymanBuilder1 October 2026
- The big question on everyone's mind is whether AI systems are consciousDavid ChalmersThinker4 September 2026
- Creating conscious machines would be an ethical disasterAnil SethResearcher1 October 2026
- Not because we know the system is conscious, but because we can't know it isn'tGrigori Guitchounts30 September 2026
- You can't be in the world with them like you can with a dog or an octopusMurray Shanahan27 September 2026
GIGAZINEGoogle researchers' views on the question, 'Does AI have consciousness?'
If AI has consciousness, then we need to treat it as a moral subject is the wrong way of thinking
Blaise Agüera y Arcas, Google VP of Technology and Society and head of its AI research team, writing in The Economist in August 2026 about AI consciousness and moral status.
What it refers to
A philosophical argument that if AI were conscious, humans would be obligated to treat it as having moral status and rights.
Other voices
- AIs do not have rights, feelings, or consciousnessMustafa SuleymanBuilder1 October 2026
- Creating conscious machines would be an ethical disasterAnil SethResearcher1 October 2026
- Not because we know the system is conscious, but because we can't know it isn'tGrigori Guitchounts30 September 2026
- The big question on everyone's mind is whether AI systems are consciousDavid ChalmersThinker4 September 2026
GIGAZINEGoogle researchers' views on the question, 'Does AI have consciousness?'