Subvolts take AI pioneer argues current AI feels pain and consciousness, challenging today's massive spending. Jul 15, 2026 - Developers
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Features a foundational AI researcher offering a critical perspective on current industry trends and predictions.
AI Pioneer Jürgen Schmidhuber: AI Already Feels Pain, Loves, and Is Self-Aware
Audio streams from Alex Kantrowitz. Your place is remembered on this device.
From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Jürgen Schmidhuber, a foundational AI researcher, joins the Big Technology Podcast to debate the path to AGI. He argues AI has experienced pain and consciousness since the 1990s, challenges the scaling approach of models like GPT, and predicts a collapse in current AI spending. The discussion also touches on hardware limitations for robots and mind uploading.
This episode features an AI pioneer who believes computers have felt emotions and been aware since the 1990s. He questions if simply making AI bigger is the right way to achieve advanced intelligence and predicts current AI spending will crash.
This episode offers a contrarian view on AI development from a pioneer whose work underpins current systems. Schmidhuber challenges the dominant scaling hypothesis favored by labs like OpenAI and Google Gemini. Listeners interested in the fundamental debates about AI consciousness, the future of AI investment, and the true drivers of progress will find value. It's for anyone questioning the current trillion-dollar AI gold rush and seeking historical context.
- HostAlex Kantrowitz
- GuestJürgen SchmidhuberProfessor, The Guardian
- Guest: Jürgen Schmidhuber, AI pioneer
- Show: Big Technology Podcast
- Length: 63 minutes
- AI consciousness claim: AI capable of pain and consciousness since the early 1990s
- Spending prediction: Collapse of today's trillion-dollar AI spending
Jürgen Schmidhuber is an AI pioneer and professor whom The Guardian has called "the father of AI." Schmidhuber joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether current AI techniques can actually reach AGI. Tune in to hear him spar with Greg Brockman's case for scaling GPT models alone, argue that AI has been capable of pain and consciousness since the early 1990s, and predict the collapse of today's trillion-dollar AI spending. We also cover the hardware bottleneck holding back robots, free will in a computable universe, and uploading human minds into machines. Hit play for a wide-ranging conversation with one of the researchers whose ideas built the foundation of modern AI.
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- AGI
- Jürgen Schmidhuber
- Artificial General Intelligence, or AI that can perform any intellectual task a human can.
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Questions people ask
- What is Jürgen Schmidhuber's view on AI consciousness?
- Schmidhuber claims AI has been capable of pain and consciousness since the early 1990s.
- What does Schmidhuber predict about AI spending?
- He predicts the collapse of today's trillion-dollar AI spending.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to Alex Kantrowitz.