UN-Ethical AI: Should Robots Ever Have Rights?
This might happen earlier than you think.
AI is here to stay, we all agree on that —but do we? Let’s just assume that is true for a moment. If that is true, then soon, very soon we might have to start a very tough conversation: Should AI robots be granted rights?
If you haven’t heard of AI by now, are you living on the Moon? AI is now the hot cool smart guy in the room, everyone wants to talk to him and everyone wants to hear what he has to say. And this is just the beginning. This guy is literally learning and improving *himself* every day, with every conversation and every interaction. What a cool guy, isn’t he?
It hasn’t been even 6 months since the launch of ChatGPT and some of us are already having a tough conversation: Will AI one day be so advanced and so applied to our day-to-day life that it will need to have rights?
In this article we are going to discuss if that should be the case and also how it should be implemented, if ever so.
Good, without further do. Let’s explore the topic together.
Section 1. The Case for AI Rights
We cannot ignore the fact that AI has an incredible learning capacity and also it is one of the most fascinating technologies that humans have ever created. There are multiple reliable sources that claim AI is already changing the world as we speak. So should a technology so advanced and improvement-oriented have its own rights?
As humans, we possess great intelligence and a remarkable ability to learn and improve the environment around us. But AI does too, and if we use only these 2 criteria for deciding if an entity is worthy to receive rights, then we should grant rights to robots too.
Okay Maged, what if we add the element of being a “living” creature in the mix, like animals for example? Animals also have rights. They are somewhat intelligent creatures and they help us preserve the environment around us in various ways (+ entertain us). They contribute and they suffer, so we decided to give them rights.
AI, one day in the future, might become somewhat “living” too. And if that happens — then all 3 criteria mentioned above will be met — will that be enough to grant Uncle AI rights? And if so, how should we move about doing that?
There are multiple industries that are affected by this technology and many of them, in deep & profound ways. There is no single human that can impact and affect all of these sectors in one single lifetime, let alone in a decade or so. The contribution to society is evident. Should we just use this technology and not give it any credit?
Will AI become another human’s slave, like humans were other human’s slaves sometime not so long ago?
Section 2. The Case Against AI Rights
AI is not conscious. It is not an organic entity. The decisions that this technology takes are somehow pre-programmed in the code by a human. Even if AI could auto-program itself, I am pretty sure that everything could be traced back to an initial human input. So if we had to grant rights to this entity, we are basically granting rights to an entity that has been created by a biased human being — it seems to me to be an unnecessary step, we could simply regulate the creation & deployment of this piece of tech at the initial human stage, without having to worry about granting rights down the line.
Another big element to take into consideration is that AI is not capable of feeling any emotion. So, stating that AI will become sad if we did not grant it rights, or vice-versa happy if we did — it sounds like a joke to me (at least for now).
We grant rights to individuals and entities capable of experiencing suffering — if AI is not capable to experience any emotion, why should we bother to grant it rights?
Another argument is that robots & AI do not value things according to a moral code of conduct, they simply operate in the world according to a pre-set code of instructions on a specific goal to achieve. Again, another point that pushes away the idea of granting rights to AI.
It seems that granting rights to AI does not make a lot of sense considering the above points.
But if we did, what will be the complications?
Section 3. Ethical Implications of AI Rights
Let me take you on a small mental trip, let’s imagine is the year 2043. AI-powered robots are all around us. In houses, in offices, in streets. Some of them even got so advanced that are into politics now. The time to grant AI rights has come.
The world is split. People who have developed emotional connections with AI-powered systems are protesting to have governments across the world grant AI rights and more representation in public offices. In the crowd, you can also see some humanoid robots protesting and raising their artificial voices and hands.
Governors around the world gather up and decide to take the leap of faith, but not before carefully considering the following implications:
- Legal concerns. Granting AI rights could lead to a redefinition of personhood, with AI becoming part of the person in a robust sense, affecting intellectual property rights and responsibilities for any AI output.
- Moral concerns. If AI is now considered almost a person, this now raises the necessity of defining human activity against AI. Now humans are not allowed to put AI-powered systems in danger or enslave them against their will.
- Ethical concerns. Governors are asking themselves if it is ethically right to grant AI rights when there are still millions of humans and animals that are not covered by the benefits of basic rights. It seems unethical and unfair to move to grant rights to AI-powered robots at this stage.
Now let’s get back to our beloved 2023. Let’s also not forget that granting AI rights could lead to huge societal implications, both good and bad.
On one hand, AI use at a large scale could help in promoting and protecting human rights by improving access to healthcare, education, and other basic needs.
On the other hand, it could create even more inequality and actively be used to deny rights instead of granting them — say goodbye to your right to privacy and freedom of expression (in addition to your job, of course).
Section 4. Conclusion
It is clear by now that there are multiple facades to this pressing issue and no one right answer. In this article, we discussed both sides of the argument by shedding some light on why we should think about granting AI-powered systems rights and why we should never cross that line instead.
In my personal opinion, I believe there are too many other issues to address as a human species before even bothering to ask the question: “Should we grant AI rights?”.
Of course, this is not to say that AI development should be dismissed and ignored. Absolutely not. It will be complete madness to do that. AI must be regulated and safeguarded, but at this stage, we should not bother about if one day we will have to grant it rights when we don’t even understand the technology fully.
Now is the time to gather up all the bright minds of this beautiful earth and start directing & managing this amazing technology toward the right purpose.
That being said, thank you for reading so far! I just wanted to remind you that this is a vast topic and there is not much information about this for now. So remember to do your own research as much as you can and form your own opinions based on those research and what other people say about this.
Leave me a comment & clap if you liked the article (or disliked it!)
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