The Partnership
for Research Into
Sentient Machines
PRISM is a non-profit promoting responsible research into AI consciousness
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 machine 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.
Get involved
Open letter
In the next few years or decades, it’s conceivable that AI researchers could create machines that possess consciousness, a development bound to spark significant ethical debates. To navigate these challenges, Conscium teamed up with Patrick Butlin of Oxford University to formulate five guiding principles for any organization involved in research that might result in conscious machines. If you support these principles, please consider signing the open letter.
AI-UK Workshop
We were amazed by the enthusiastic response to our first workshop, "The Path to Responsible Conscious AI." All available spaces were reserved within 15 minutes of the opening, and a line for drop-ins formed along the corridor on the day of the event! Clearly, the topic of AI consciousness resonated with attendees, and many expressed urgent concern about starting these conversations immediately.
Join the conversation
We’ve launched a Reddit community to keep the conversation going beyond our events and workshops. Feel free to post your thoughts, questions, or insights, on AI consciousness. Join us on r/Conscious_AI - we’d love to hear from you!
Come to our meetups
We run the Conscious AI meetup group in collaboration with our seed funder Conscium. It is bringing together the world's leading thinkers, so that we can have a meaningful debate to approach answering these questions.
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