Could AI become conscious?

The societal debate surrounding AI companions isn’t just about their effects on humans. Increasingly it’s about whether the companions can have human-like experiences.

In a research paper, titled “Taking AI Welfare Seriously,” Robert Long, the executive director of Eleos AI, and his colleagues argued that “there is a realistic possibility that some AI systems will be conscious and/or robustly agentic in the near future.”

Post from CNBC on October 20, 2025