Partnership
for Research Into
Sentient Machines
PRISM is a non-profit preparing society for a future with conscious, or seemingly conscious, AI
Our Mission
Foster global collaboration on AI consciousness
Build a coalition of global partners from academia, industry, and government to ensure a coordinated approach to ensure exploration of machine consciousness is done responsibly, not recklessly.
Promote safe and aligned AI development
Advocate for the development of AI technologies that prioritize human safety, ethical alignment, and adherence to societal values.
Spark public dialogue about AI consciousness
Raise awareness about the risks and opportunities of conscious (or perceived conscious) AI, providing transparent insights to policymakers, industry leaders, and the public.
Why now?
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence have raised critical questions regarding machine sentience and consciousness. While most agree that it is unlikely that current AIs are conscious (Butlin et al, 2023), many prominent neuroscientists have suggested that the features responsible for consciousness in the brain could be reproduced in AI systems (Butlin & Lappas, 2025).
Society is largely unprepared to address the profound ethical, legal, and societal implications of conscious AI. The absence of proactive strategies and clear ethical frameworks risks creating moral uncertainty, inadequate regulation, and potentially dangerous gaps in policy and public awareness.
Without structured dialogue and interdisciplinary collaboration, advancements in AI consciousness could outpace our capacity to manage them responsibly.
Conscious AI Meetup
Join our meetup group for seminars with some of the leading thinkers in this space.
Are current LLMs conscious?
We get a lot of enquiries about whether current LLMs are conscious or not. We have written a response to these enquiries.
Open letter
We’ve adopted five principles to guide any organisation engaged in research that could lead to the creation of conscious machines.
Podcast
Blog
News
