Should We Respect Rights of Artificial Life?

 Should We Respect Rights of Artificial Life?

Written by 10422 Choi Sohi

“Your nose will get longer if you lie!” Reading Pinocchio as a child, you may have touched your nose to see if it got really long when you lied. Pinocchio is about a wooden puppet who becomes a human after doing good things.

However, as the interest on robots and artificial intelligence increases, the view of a creator and creation has appeared more often. Dramas and movies that show are increasing. In Are You Also a Human? an artificial intelligence robot, Namsin III, and the heroine fall in love. This can become real in the future, and we think more ethical when it comes artificial life. Should we respect their rights if they appear to be more human than real human beings?

Artificial life is no different from human life. Just being different in the way they are created. They can breathe and think. They can continue life by using energy from the environment.

Only 150 years ago, humans owned human slaves. Just because these people were born at a lower status, they were treated as property. It is now considered unethical, but it is mostly after the American Civil War that they were valued as human beings. Then is it fair to think of artificial life as an object? Is this no better than slavery?

Just twenty to thirty years ago, no one would say anything about eating a dog in Korea. However, as the social atmosphere that regards animals as family was created, it became a controversy easily. This change in perception is probably due to the personalized society, creating a real bond with pets. With animal rights being more pursued around the world, the rights of artificial life should also be respected.

What if people feel affection for artificial life?

There is an experiment conducted by a company, lending a talking robot to elderly people living alone. Surprisingly, a month after when the company tried to take it back, the elderly stopped them saying the machine is far better than their own sons and daughters.

  

Another case is about a minesweeper robot in the Iraq War. When the robot got wounded during 73^rd task while working together with a human, its partner cried and begged to save the robot. Having affection towards machine sounds impossible now but can be possible in the future. 

By respecting artificial life’s rights, society can develop. When we get to the end of the human capacity, artificial life is what can make the world a better place by overstepping the limit. Based on the autonomy of artificial life, development could be made in another direction that humans could not reach. Also, humans can have opportunities to broaden creativity since humans and robots can do well in different things.

As you can see, artificial intelligence is the same as humans, can create a real bond, and make social 

development. It is desirable to respect its human rights.

Some oppose this on the grounds that it can result in robots can control humans. According to the scientists including David Hanson, however, it is radical that artificial life reaching a self-aware stage. Also, respecting rights of the robot means we treat them equally, so there are no reasons for them to have ill feelings and control.

Technology is what exists with humans. We must coexist. We shouldn’t forget that it is the near future and try to make a similar ending with Pinocchio, “He became a good boy.”