Robots Could Some Day Demand Legal Rights

Karrde712 writes "According to a study by the British government, as reported by the BBC, robots may some day improve to a level of intelligence where they might be able to demand rights, even 'robo-healthcare'." From the article: "The research was commissioned by the UK Office of Science and Innovation's Horizon Scanning Centre. The 246 summary papers, called the Sigma and Delta scans, were complied by futures researchers, Outsights-Ipsos Mori partnership and the US-based Institute for the Future (IFTF) ... The paper which addresses Robo-rights, titled Utopian dream or rise of the machines? examines the developments in artificial intelligence and how this may impact on law and politics." I'd better get started on my RoboAmerican studies degree.

Comments

Re:But unless we program them that way...

[soft_guy]

Then they won't be able to. And if we program them "open-ended" to discover how to WANT things, we'll lose the #1 reason we have robots...to send them unquestioningly into any job or situation. Otherwise they become superhumans and why would they want us around? Energy source? This is a good point. I wish I had mod points, but since I don't, I'll point out that pretty much anything that can be done will be done. This is due to the high number of jackasses in the world.

Britain commissioned a study????

[hellfire]

I'm not holding my breath.

The idea that robots may demand rights in the future is a good topic for a theoretical or philosophical debate. This type of thing is excellent for expanding one's mind about what may happen, and then to come up with solutions. It's good exercise for the brain.

Funding research about something that "may happen" usually revolves around risk analysis. An earthquake may happen, car accidents may happen, crimes may happen. That makes sense, so you should prepare for that.

Newsflash! We may have teleporters, warp drive, phasers, photon torpedos, and the heisenberg compensator some day too! We might have all of our pollution problems solved some day! There might be world peace some day! We might not stupid people some day!

What is the value of a study, that I can guarentee has no basis in fact, that says Robots may demand rights? We haven't nearly developed an AI remotely close to the power of the human mind. Entertainig such a question as part of a philosophical debate is a great idea, because then you are exercising that organ to be creative and think imaginatively, but why are they wasting time and money on a government study? I don't get what the government will get from that.

Perhaps the government should take time out every now and then to exercise their brains and have a go at such a philosophical debate. It will expand their minds and hone their skills. Having some commission do a study and present the government with the results is stupid, but then again so is government, so why am I surprised?

Please tell me the editors failed to do their job again. I can't read the article because it's /.ed so I'm hoping this summary is completely bogus.

Re:A moot point, but I hope they do

[forkazoo]

If they have the awareness to ask for legal rights, why shouldn't they have them? Have we learned nothing from Star Trek: The Next Generation?

I like to think I am as progressive as the next guy, but if we were to give complete civil rights to a robot in the same way as a human, it would be the instant end of democracy. Sure, Star Trek is an interesting show, but they aways avoided the more interesting issues when they were trying to make their social commentary. Both Data, and the Voyager holo-doctor were assumed to be essentially uncopiable for the most part on several occasions. In reality, we can see no reason that a strong AI couldn't be simply copied without adverse effects.

So, grant an AI the right to vote and suddenly he forkbombs, and makes 87 trillion of himself before the next election. HK-47 (instance 00000001a) for the win! The winner of every election ever after is the AI with the best hardware on which to execute instances of himself, and the lowest process spawning overhead.

There are a lot of interesting things that could happen with strong AI, and science fiction has largely avoided a really serious take on the subjects. I grant that Measure Of A Man was great entertainment, but certainly not the ultimate study of the subject!

Re:Cart before the Horse

[lostboy2]

we have animal friends who so obviously need legal rights, yet we ignore them

How about the rights of robot animoids? PETT (People for the Ethical Treatment of Tamagotchis) has been on my case for a decade. I just hope the SPCS (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Sims) doesn't find out about me.

Seriously, though, your concern is tangentially on-topic. What kinds of entities do we humans believe deserve to have individual civil rights? And how much are we willing to do to ensure that those rights are protected and enforced? For instance, how do each of the following stack up?

• humans
  
• humans who live in a far-away third-world country (like, say, the residents of Darfur)
  
• terrorists
  
• suspected terrorists
  
• cute animals
  
• ugly animals
  
• tasty animals
  
• insects
  
• plants
  
• a human fetus
  
• a human fertilized egg
  
• a human in a persistent vegetative state
  
• robots
  

Re:Whisky Tango Foxtrot, over

[EvilTwinSkippy]

From what I understand the problem in Japan is not "can't" have children as "won't" have children. Post-industrial society makes child rearing so expensive and resource consuming that the truely successful members of society can't be bothered.

Japan is on the vanguard of this phenominon, Europe isn't far behind, and despite my comments about the backwardness of the United States, there are signs of it starting here.