Story perspectives

Goat-Bit Neural Net Built; Execs Warn AI Personification.

6/18/2026

Summary

Story summary

A Microsoft researcher built a functional neural-network prototype in Age of Empires II using virtual goats as binary bits.
Adrian de Wynter surveyed 315 computer-science papers from the past two years and found 57 percent begin by assuming large language models have human-like traits.
He said executives such as Sam Altman and Ilya Sutskever suggest AI could become conscious, urging clear disclosures and alignment to stop users attributing personality.

1 of 1

Story summary

A Microsoft researcher built a functional neural-network prototype in Age of Empires II using virtual goats as binary bits.
Adrian de Wynter surveyed 315 computer-science papers from the past two years and found 57 percent begin by assuming large language models have human-like traits.
He said executives such as Sam Altman and Ilya Sutskever suggest AI could become conscious, urging clear disclosures and alignment to stop users attributing personality.