Question Everything — Will robots need rights? Robots will demand rights and we’ll grant them

September 22, 2015


It’s a question of morality. There is no way to prove that one entity is conscious and another is not. Virtual characters can claim to be, but that does not convince us that they are.

Some scientists say therefore that consciousness is an illusion. I would argue against that, however, because our entire moral system is based on it.

If morality and rights are based on consciousness, and if consciousness is not a scientifically testable proposition, then we have to conclude that there is a proper role for philosophy, which is the study of important matters that cannot be resolved through scientific experimentation alone. Indeed, the idea of rights may be philosophy’s fundamental issue.

If an AI can convince us that it is at human levels in its responses, and if we are convinced that it is experiencing the subjective states that it claims, then we will accept that it is capable of experiencing suffering and joy. At that point artificial intelligences will demand rights, and because of our ability to empathize, we will be inclined to grant them.

by Ray Kurzweil, inventor and computer scientist


related reading
Time: Question Everything | main
Time: Question Everything | editor’s letter


Time: Question Everything | questions + answers on technology, science and the future

about | Time Question Everything opens the floor for debate of pop culture topics — serious to whimsical, sublime to ridiculous — that have no right or wrong answers but certainly elicit a wide spectrum of intense opinions.

Hopefully reading these different perspectives will open minds, challenge thinking and maybe even provoke a change in what you believe. Let’s discuss!


Time: Question Everything | Should we all wear body cams?


Time: Question Everything | Should we let ourselves be anonymous online?


Time: Question Everything | Will robots need rights?


Time: Question Everything | Will artificial intelligence overtake humans?