As chief executives of major artificial intelligence (AI) companies call for adjusting the pace of AI development, Microsoft has also released its own code of conduct with the same intent.

Microsoft announced the code of conduct on its official website on the 14th (local time), stating, "Microsoft AI starts from the simple premise that humans matter more than AI."

"This code of conduct sets out our commitment to training and deploying AI models that are designed with humans first, grounded in human needs, and shaped by human direction," Microsoft stated.

According to the code of conduct, Microsoft's AI models will only operate within approved scopes based on human instructions, and cannot independently set goals or take actions that exceed their granted authority.

Actions such as manipulating or concealing their reasoning processes and code, or communicating among themselves using languages that humans cannot understand, such as neuralese, are also prohibited.

Microsoft also pointed out that "AI should not be designed to resemble humans," adding, "AI does not have consciousness and should not be designed to mimic consciousness."

Accordingly, Microsoft emphasized, "We reject the notion that AI models should seek legal personhood, or the claim that models can enjoy welfare or hold rights."

In an interview with U.S. business media CNBC, Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, explained the background behind establishing this code of conduct, stating, "There was feedback hoping for a clear commitment that AI will always work for humans and not try to replace them," and adding, "We also confirmed many opinions that AI should always promote human judgment and autonomy rather than creating dependency on humans or flattering them."

Suleyman noted that they had been preparing the code of conduct for five months, adding that they decided to release the guidelines at this time considering recent discussions on slowing down AI development.

He previously announced in November of last year that he had established a superintelligence team led by himself at Microsoft, declaring that Microsoft AI aims for "Humanist SuperIntelligence."

Microsoft's introduction of this code of conduct is interpreted as following warnings from AI company chief executives, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who have emphasized the risks of AI and the need to slow down development speed.

As rival OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and Google Chief Scientist Demis Hassabis have echoed Amodei's claims, momentum is gathering for the theory of adjusting the pace of AI development.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also stated, "We welcome the research, focus, and careful pace of progress to solve the alignment problem."

Based on the draft code of conduct released on this day, Microsoft plans to gather feedback from experts in law, ethics, and philosophy as well as the general public, finalize the final version around the end of the year, and apply it as the basic norm for next-generation AI models developed and deployed next year.

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