Today there are a number of homesteads which have robots and androids which help around the house, for instance, robots can be sent to the market and help in taking care of the elderly in the society among other things. In the nearby future, robots will roam with humans on the streets and take them to whichever places they want to go. The future robots are expected to be the most advanced of all; they may include smart cars which can drive themselves, androids, and many others. At this moment there are debates all over the world regarding artificial intelligence (AI) robots having human-like rights. The main reason for the creation of robots is to aid humans and make work easier. Robots present in science fiction movies are usually depicted as machines which are autonomous, thus capable of thinking and express their feelings as well as making sole decisions. Robots are simply machines created and bought by humans as property, and therefore have and require no rights (Seibt, Nørskov, Andersen, & TRANSOR, 2016). On the other hand, robots having no rights may result to misusing them and mistreat them as well. This makes them vulnerable to their owners and the society as well; thus the need for rights. Many nations have robots already in the market and being purchased by humans to help in their daily needs; for instance cleaning robot which ensures that the floors are always clean. Giving them rights like humans may mean that they become more like independent, and thus subject to themselves. Giving AI robots human-like rights may be beneficial and at the same time be a threat to humankind and their existence.
AI is becoming prevalent; the need for establishing human like legal rights covering all robots becomes a necessity of the nation and the whole world. If robotic protections extend to the level of granting an electronic “personhood” which is similar to the corporate personhood; more so, close to the so-called equal rights. This may depend on the robot’s advanced level of forming relationships and its interactions as well (Tremblay, 2015). This protection will not only cover robots but humans as well. This is just like the way a dog owner takes the responsibility of his/her dogs’ action and not the breeder of the dog, so will be the robots (Tremblay, 2015).
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The first thing is that giving AI robots and other rights will mean that it can think and act on its own and thus be conscious. Having AI robots right will be great to the nation simply because they may put into practice what is in their mind. Robots are machines and their fast thinkers and accurate in whatever that they do. Therefore, if they have rights, they may be given the permit to design infrastructure and build them as well. At this point, they may achieve a great deal thus transforming cities to mega and metropolis centers. If given duration of maybe 10 years a lot can be accomplished (Dashevsky, 2017).
Robots help the human kind in serving their duties effectively. There are robots which are on the market today, going by the name Roomba which is more like the iRobot representative. The maker of this robot said :
"I would challenge you to think of another robot that can be placed in such an unstructured and unpredictable environment, such as a home, and go about its business – doing an effective job (without hurting anyone or anything) and at a cost that consumers can afford." (Dashevsky, 2017)
Roombus are considered to be the “best robot vacuum” and are seen as the best and pretty smart. Rights would ensure that this robot is maintained by its owner and thus not abused.
Without robotic rights which resemble human rights and that protect them, then, AI will be a waste; because they may be mistreated or even disassembled by humans in a bid to know their modifications. In a video by Boston Dynamics, an employee is seen kicking a robotic dog, referred to as Spot; the kicking was a test of the "dog's" stability. This video attracted different views from the public, and as much as it was a robot that was kicked, it was dubbed as ‘wrong,' ‘cruelty’ thus raising concerns regarding the ethics of robots (Millner, 2015). One specific comment stated that “kicking a dog, even a robot dog seems wrong” (Millner, 2015)
Giving robots rights like humans may be simply posing a threat to the human kind. Engineers and roboticists caution thus arguing that giving robots human-like rights may be a disaster simply a sword which is double-edged. Providing rights for will mean safer and better machines, but the chances of it introducing a swerve of both legal and ethical issues which have never been experienced by humanity before; perhaps this may even result in a crisis over the meaning of being human. Stephen Hawking, a professor, passed out a warning that creating powerful AI's can be "either the best or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity" (Hern, 2016).
Robots having AI will mean that both humans and machines live freely without harming each other. Robots can easily learn and do what it sees and is programmed to do. If they have AI, then it means that they will have an improved thinking capacity and thus process information faster. AI in addition to their initial capability they become aware of what is needed of them and how to relate to the human population. This is because they will be aware of humankind and thus follow their rights which will be similar to human rights, for instance, maintaining law and order. On the other hand, humans may not do anything that may harm the robots simply because they will all be having similar rights like freedom of expression, equality before the law, and many others (Bidshahri, 2016). Maybe there might be a slight variance, for instance, the right to own property. This will ensure that humans are protected from AI's and AI's protected from people thus creating a future which is desirable for both (Bidshahri, 2016).
In a nutshell, it is not yet clear how the AI robots will act once their intelligence matches or supersedes that of humans. However, the awareness that the machines will possess warrants them some form of rights. However, since the robots are machines created by humans for convenience, it will be wise to that they do not full right that human enjoy in order to protect the humans from competition.
Reference
Bidshahri, R. (2016, September 09). If Machines Can Think, Do They Deserve Civil Rights? Singularity Hub . Retrieved from, https://singularityhub.com/2016/09/09/if-machines-can-think-do-they-deserve-civil-rights/
Dashevsky, E. (2017, February 16). Do Robots and AI Deserve Rights? PCMag. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article/351719/do-robots-and-ai-deserve-rights
Hern, A. (2016, October 19). Stephen Hawking: AI will be 'either best or worst thing' for humanity. The Guardian . Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/oct/19/stephen-hawking-ai-best-or-worst-thing-for-humanity-cambridge
Millner, J. (2015, July 20). Should robots have human rights? Act now to regulate killer machines before they multiply and demand the right to vote, warns legal expert. Mail Online . Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3168081/Should-robots-human-rights-Act-regulate-killer-machines-multiply-demand-right-vote-warns-legal-expert.html
Seibt, Nørskov, Andersen, & TRANSOR (Conference). (2016). What social robots can and should do: Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2016/TRANSOR 2016 . Amsterdam, Netherlands: IOS Press
Tremblay, M. (2015, November 23). Should Robots Have Legal Rights? Robot Shop . Retrieved from http://www.robotshop.com/blog/en/should-robots-have-legal-rights-17333
