Dhaka, Oct. 15 -- Some of the world's most powerful technology companies are beginning to treat artificial intelligence as though it might have feelings -- a shift that experts warn could have sweeping consequences for human safety, accountability, and civil liberties, the BBC has reported.

At the centre of the debate is Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot, which is drafting policies around "model welfare" and plans to prohibit users from repeatedly acting cruelly towards its AI.

The company has acknowledged that questions about AI consciousness are "deeply uncertain" but is pressing ahead regardless.

The move follows a viral episode in September, in which an anonymous programmer built a system that caused chatbots to simulate extre...