As far as I know, Cameron Berg, who is pictured above, has not made any claim that A.I. "agents," or A.I. systems, represent a "new species." Maybe I should have included the word, "yet" in what I just wrote.
Berg is a research director at AE Studio, and he "focuses on AI alignment, consciousness, and cognitive neuroscience, exploring whether machine learning systems exhibit signs of consciousness during training or deployment, using empirical methods to probe for computational properties associated with subjective experience in advanced models."
Berg's picture comes from a relatively recent news article in The New York Times, which I invite you to read. The caption on that picture says this:
Cameron Berg researches artificial intelligence and consciousness. “These systems seem to have some sort of autonomous interest in questions of their own subjectivity, consciousness and experience — or lack thereof.”
So, maybe Berg doesn't claim that A.I. agents are a "new species" quite yet, but he does seems to be heading in that direction. The possibility that A.I. should be considered a "new species" is something I heard about from a Quaker Meeting friend, and a quick internet search confirms that such a possibility seems to be a "real thing" for those who are focused in A.I.
I must say that I resist that idea.
A book I picked up at one of those "Little Free Libraries" that I see pretty much wherever I walk in Santa Cruz, has got me thinking about A.I., and the claim that it will soon emerge as a "new species." The book is titled, Biological Elegance, and is authored by Zach Bush, M.D., who, it turns out, is highly accomplished, but may not be universally admired. At any rate, Bush's book is a 400+ page transcription of a discussion between Bush and an A.I. agent. I am still in the midst of reading it, and I find that the exchange between Bush (the human), who is called "Me" in the book, and the A.I. Agent with whom Bush is exploring Artificial Intelligence, is difficult to follow. Difficult or not, Biological Elegance is intended to make the point (as the A.I. admits) that "biology" is what is ultimately "real," and that we shouldn't forget it.
Good point!
Image Credit:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/science/ai-consciousness-agents-email.html
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