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About

Elisabeth Hildt is a leading voice in the ethics of artificial intelligence, with a particular focus on the profound questions surrounding machine consciousness and human-AI interaction. Her work bridges the gap between technical possibility and ethical responsibility, asking not just what AI *can* do, but what it *should* be. Her most influential paper, "Artificial Intelligence: Does Consciousness Matter?" (2019, 168 citations), provocatively argues that the concept of consciousness—central to debates on the mind-body problem—is surprisingly absent from mainstream AI ethics, a gap she insists must be filled. She deepens this inquiry in "The Prospects of Artificial Consciousness: Ethical Dimensions and Concerns" (2022, 34 citations), which systematically explores the ethical implications of potentially conscious machines. In her more recent work, "What Sort of Robots Do We Want to Interact With?" (2021, 17 citations), Hildt pivots to the human side of the equation, reflecting on how our own values, vulnerabilities, and desires should shape the design of social robots. Through this body of work, Hildt has established herself as a critical thinker who insists that the future of AI must be guided by a deep, humanistic understanding of what it means to be a conscious, relational being.