Microsoft says ‘people matter more than AI’ following safety concerns
Microsoft has released a 'humanist AI code of conduct' emphasizing that AI models should remain subordinate to human control and should not be designed to imitate consciousness. This move serves as a critique of competitors like Anthropic who have explored the potential for AI sentience.
Why it matters
The policy highlights a growing philosophical and safety divide among major AI labs regarding the future development and ethical boundaries of artificial intelligence.
Microsoft is publishing a 37-page “humanist AI code of conduct” today, amid growing safety concerns over AI model progress. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a coordinated slow down of AI development over the weekend, after researchers warned recently that AI model progress could outpace our ability to safely deploy increasingly complex systems and verify and control the actions of AI agents.
Microsoft’s AI code of conduct makes it clear that “people matter more than AI,” and that AI models are not conscious and “should not be designed to imitate consciousness.” Microsoft also rejects “the pursuit of legal personhood, or the idea that models might deserve welfare, or be entitled to rights.”
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in