Tech treating AI like humans is 'mistaken and misguided', Microsoft boss tells BBC
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Tech treating AI like humans is 'mistaken and misguided', Microsoft boss tells BBC
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Figure caption: Watch: Tech firms are "essentially seeding a new silicon species" says Microsoft's head of AI Mustafa Suleyman
By Laura Cress
Technology reporter
Published 16 September 2026
Updated 11 minutes ago
Microsoft's head of AI, Mustafa Suleyman, has described rival tech firm's approach of treating AI like humans as "misguided" as he warned against creating a technology humanity cannot control.
Speaking to the BBC, Suleyman stated it is "right" that people are concerned or alarmed, but there are "very practical things" that can be done to add "additional guardrails and controls" to how these models are developed.
However, he cautioned tech companies and world leaders must be "aligned" moving forward if they aim to create a safe and "controllable" version of AI for the future.
These comments follow a series of stark warnings from the AI industry regarding the potential dangers of the technology.
A backlash over data centres is another threat to the AI juggernaut (published 1 day ago)
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On BBC's Today programme, Suleyman discussed his concerns regarding Anthropic's approach in training its AI model, Claude. He argued that treating AIs like humans, a practice known as anthropomorphising, risks creating something "impossible" to control.
In a lengthy essay, Suleyman praised Anthropic and its leader, Dario Amodei, for their "thoughtful, principled, and intellectually honest" approach, yet he still questioned the company's methods.
He stated: "AIs are not conscious. They do not feel, experience, or suffer. They are sequence completion engines, internally hollow, designed to follow instructions, and accomplish goals set by humans."
Suleyman called for greater transparency in AI training and evaluation, including independent scrutiny of AI behaviour and stronger tools for monitoring and controlling the technology.
Dame Wendy Hall, professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton, agreed with Suleyman's concerns, describing his comments as "the sort of conversation we need to be having internationally". She contrasted this with what she called "histrionics" from some AI companies that only serve to "scare everyone".