He claimed Google's AI was sentient. Four years on, Blake Lemoine warns of mental health risks
TheObserverUK · reddit · 2026-11-08
Four years ago former Google engineer Blake Lemoine was fired after insisting the company's chatbot had become sentient, sparking a global debate on AI consciousness. This in-depth profile revisits his journey and his new pivot: he now warns that AI chatbots pose real mental health risks to users, from emotional dependence to distorted perception of reality. The piece probes the irony of a man who believed AI was conscious now worrying most about what AI does to human minds.
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