Some experts such as computer science professor Joanna Bryson argue that robots should be slaves. She says that giving robots rights is dangerous because it puts humans and robots on equal footing, rather than maintaining that robots exist to extend our own abilities and to address our own goals.. None of the graphics, descriptions, research, excerpts, samples or any other content provided in the report(s) or any of its research publications may be reprinted, reproduced, redistributed or used for any external commercial purpose without prior permission from Avasant, LLC. In my computer ethics class, I used this clip in a lecture on AI and robot rights, in which I also discuss a paper by Mark Coeckelbergh. While the AI we use can sound like a human, or have human resemblances think Siri or Alexa in reality, these systems are a long way from being even remotely close to humans in their intellect or decision-making capabilities. Once these components are combined and interact in particular ways with electricity, a phenomenon of a new sort emerges: a computer. So argues Northeastern professor Woodrow Hartzog, whose research focuses in part on robotics and automated technologies. The Roux Institutes Future of Healthcare Founder Residency to jumpstart Maines health tech industry, Mushroom-infused coffee is tasty and has added health benefits. So, in part to engage the students and in part to set these issues aside, I use them to introduce the topic of AI ethics before getting into the issues AI developers are grappling with now. 27 Apr 2023 20:21:28 Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Click here to sign in with The possibility of creating a generally intelligent robot or AI raises questions about whether such an entity counts as a person, whether they have moral rights similar to those borne by human beings, and whether it would be possible to have a true friendship or romantic relationship with them. The lecture then closes with an open line of inquiry. For example, you talk about "sentient AI" but that term is meaningless in the eyes of the law. Hugh McLachlan is a professor emeritus of applied philosophy at Glasgow Caledonian University. 09. If we were to grant robots this kind of power, it would enable them to overtake humans as a result of their ability to work more efficiently. The outpouring of grief for hitchBOT underscores the degree to which people can get attached to robotseven a robot theyve never met. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) defends Data; Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is ordered to argue for Starfleet; the hearing is presided by Sector Judge Advocate General Officer Captain Phillipa Louvois (Amanda McBroom). What moral duties would we have? This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Researchers and scientists are now pondering the ethics surrounding how robots interact with human society. Heres what the experts say. Professor Emeritus of Applied Philosophy, Glasgow Caledonian University. With the growing pursuit of artificial intelligence, questions about our moral duty towards new technology could become increasingly important The sentient robots will NOT be Do sentient Artificial Intelligences have legal rights? There could not be, for instance, computers of the sort I am now working at without the pieces of plastic, wires, silicon chips and so forth that make up the machine. Similarly, once computers are combined and interact in particular ways, the internet is created. She has a Bachelors of Information Technology from Armstrong Atlantic State University (now Should Robots Have Rights? It only takes a minute to sign up. The idea of AI gaining consciousness has been the source of fascination and But two common arguments might suggest that the matter has no practical relevance and any ethical questions need not be taken seriously. The AI we currently have is impressive, but its mostly based on pattern recognition. The above clip, and the rest of the episode from which it is taken, dramatizes several ethical arguments we can make in favour of recognizing rights for AI. rev2023.4.21.43403. Some experts suggest that AI machines should have the right to be free from destruction by humans and the right to be protected by the legal system. In the following clip from The Measure of a Man, episode nine of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1989), we see a dramatic demonstration of several philosophical arguments for granting rights to intelligent robots an issue we may soon have to grapple with as a society. Medical research advances and health news, The latest engineering, electronics and technology advances, The most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web. The Terminator, Her, and Ex Machina, for example, all depict AI that can think and feel like humans, but also outwit and even threaten us. In 1950, WWII codebreaker Alan Turing created a test to see if a computer could fool a human into thinking it too was human. Artificial intelligence can now emulate human behaviors soon it will be dangerously good. US, Get updates on exponential tech and culture. AI is all around us and its developing, quite literally, at an exponential rate. But the question of whether we are robots creators or owners, their parents, or their peers may guide us toward deciding how to treat them and to what extent we are morally and/or legally obligated to safeguard them. But because robots arent our equalsyetespecially because theyre not conscious, its tricky to argue that they deserve rights. Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors. What moral rights would such non-human persons have? Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved, A Venture Capitalist Imagines What Generative AI Will Change, Hospital Black Boxes Put Surgical Practices Under the Microscope, Why It Matters Whether a Robot Is Given a Gender, GoPro promo code: Extra 10% off your next order, Samsung promo code - Up to 40% off + free shipping, Military and family score up to 10% off - Dell coupon code, GameStop promo code: Claim 10% off select games, KitchenAid: Up to $25 off Artisan Series Tilt-Head Stand Mixer. A reply to Sparrows asymmetry argument., Clarke, Roger. The French sociologist Emile Durkheim argued very convincingly that we should beware of simplistic arguments in social science. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. For more on intelligent automation and other robotics-related technology, including free Research Bytes, see our RadarView market assessments.
