Google has fired one of its engineers, after it had forced him to take a leave of absence, after he said the company’s artificial intelligence system had feelings, according to the BBC website, yesterday, Saturday.

Google had placed engineer Blake Lemoine on temporary paid leave after he claimed that a chatbot he was working on had developed his own “cognitive awareness” to a level close to that of a human.

While Google and several artificial intelligence experts denied the allegations, and confirmed on Friday that he had been fired, Lemoine told the BBC: “He is receiving legal advice, and declined to comment further.”

Google also said in a statement that Lemoine’s claims about a language model for dialogue apps known as lambda “are completely unfounded”, and that the company worked with him “for several months” to make it clear.

“Therefore, it is unfortunate that despite his prolonged involvement in this matter, Blake continues to choose to consistently violate clear employment and data security policies, which include the need to protect product information,” a company statement explained. Lambda is a cutting-edge technology and company tool for building chatbots.

Lemoine made headlines last June when he said lambda was displaying human-like consciousness, and that sparked debate among AI experts and enthusiasts about the development of technology designed to impersonate humans.

Lemoine, who worked with the AI ​​team in charge of Google, told The Washington Post that his job was to test whether the technology was using discriminatory or hate speech.

He also found that lambda showed self-awareness and could hold conversations about religion, emotions, and fears, and this led LeMoyne to believe that behind his impressive verbal skills might also lie a conscious mind.

While Google rejected his findings and was given paid leave for violating the company’s confidentiality policy, Lemoine then published a conversation he and another person had with Lambda to support his allegations.

Google also said in its statement that it takes responsible AI development “very seriously” and published a report detailing this. It added that any employee concerns about the company’s technology were reviewed “extensively” and that Lambda had undergone 11 reviews.