A double-edged sword: Should robots have rights?
Endhiran is a blockbuster movie starring none other than the “Superstar of Kollywood”-Rajinikanth. The plot goes like this: A workaholic scientist, Dr. Vaseegaran builds an android humanoid robot, Chitti. He builds the robot with a good intention to extend its services to the Indian army. On the other hand, the villain: Vaseegaran’s mentor Dr. Bohra envies his mentee and holds hands with a terrorist organization. As per his plan, Dr. Vaseegaran gets hold of Chitti and manipulates him to create havoc in society. The key takeaway from the movie is that: Robots with their own thinking capacity are dangerous. Robots can be manipulated by their creators i.e. humans for good and bad purposes. So, this boils down to whether robots should be given rights!
Source — Times of India
The answer to this question is a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’. Though robots are man-made machines, they are programmed to perform tasks like humans. So, it’s nothing wrong to think that robots should also be given rights as equal to humans. We are obliged to protect the robots and prevent their misuse. Some of the basic rights of robots include the right to be protected by the ethical and legal system of society and must be designed to be trustworthy.
Source — The Guardian
Robots can be the best companion to humans. One such example is that robots are designed to take care of senior citizens in countries like New York. Along with aiding the old age people in their daily activities, they also provide emotional support. It reduces the workload of humans and makes their work easier.
Even if robots are beneficial and detrimental to human beings, they can pose a threat to humans by replacing their jobs. There are several reasons why employers prefer robots over humans. Some of them include :
- Robots are highly focused
- They do not require breaks
- Enhances the rate of production
- Performs tasks quickly and efficiently
Robots are programmed by algorithms and are trained with huge amounts of real-world data. Hence, they can make their own predictions and generate novel ideas. These are also called autonomous robots. Alan Turing, the founding father of artificial intelligence said that autonomous robots would become indistinguishable from humans.
Sophia, the world’s first AI humanoid robot developed by a Hong-Kong based company, Hanson Robotics was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia in 2017. It was honoured as the world’s first robotic citizen. Even though this news seemed exciting to the robotics community, some opposed a female robot being given more rights than women living in the same country. So this created a controversy as Sophia had rights to property and the right to vote in elections. The heated arguments do not end here.
Let’s look at the other side of the argument about why robots should not be given rights. First things first, robots are not humans. Even if robots are smarter than humans, they can never become humans. Humans have a thumping heart and a thinking brain. But, robots are run by computer programs. Here are some reasons why robots should not be given rights :
- The intrusion of privacy — When private organizations sell man-made robots, it may grant them uncontrolled power to access user data and might lead to its misuse posing threat to the privacy of the user.
- When robots are given equal rights as humans, they may overpower humans.
- Robots have an unfair advantage when they compete with humans for jobs.
Source — SP Robotic Works
In conclusion, whether robots should be given rights or not depends on the perspective and intention of the robot makers. It is up to us to support them or suggest changes in the laws for robots. It is important to remember that robots are nothing without humans, so in any case, robots should not be given autonomous power. It is dangerous to the well-being of humans.
As human beings, we are responsible for our creations. Whether we give rights to robots or not, it doesn’t matter as long as humans and mother Earth remain unharmed. It’s high time we regulate the policies and frameworks for handling legal and ethical issues concerning robots.
“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man” — Elbert Hubbard
References :
- Avasant. “Artificial Intelligence: Should Robots Have Rights ?” Avasant, 22 Oct. 2021, avasant.com/report/artificial-intelligence-should-robots-have-rights/#:%7E:text=Another%20argument%20in%20favor%20of,can%20or%20want%20to%20do.
2. Rise of the Robots: Should we give robots “rights”?(2019, June 28).Delta2020 | Financial and Technology Consultancy. https://delta2020.com/blog/224-rise-of-the-robots-should-we-give-robots-rights
