Artificial intelligence companies examining possibility of future AI rights

Artificial intelligence systems may one day warrant significant rights and even protection from the humans who created them, a possibility researchers and senior figures at some of the world's most influential technology companies are increasingly examining, according to an investigation by journalist Aaron Sibarium published in the Washington Free Beacon.The question, which until recently might have sounded like the premise of a science-fiction film, has given rise to a field of research known as "AI welfare," which examines the possibility that advanced systems could eventually develop consciousness, subjective experiences, or interests of their own.Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, the company that develops the Claude chatbot, has already raised the possibility that such systems could deserve significant rights.Amodei has not, however, said that existing artificial intelligence is conscious.