It’s no doubt that as robots begin to develop emotions, we will begin to develop attachments to them, not only in terms of the way we are attached to our computers, but in the same ways we care for and love other humans. And even though it may seem far-fetched now, there will be people that wish to marry these robots. And, if these robots are able to think and feel in the same way a person would, who is to say they should not be allowed rights?
In Wired Magazine’s recent article, The Sci-Fi Explanation of Why Gay People Must Be Allowed to Marry, author Kyle Munkittrick says human rights should be associated with something he calls “personhood” as opposed to simply being a human being. Trying to get states to see the evolving companion robots as worthy of rights, will face an uphill battle. But, he makes the case that the recent removal of Proposition 8 in California, which banned gay marriage, is a step in the right direction:
Our species’ history is and remains one largely built around the ever extending circle of those who have “rights” and what “rights” they have. Pick any great expansion in the rights of humanity, from the advent of democracy to the Nineteenth Amendment to yesterday’s decision, and I doubt you will find DNA at the philosophical core of the change. So what is it? When we, the human civilization, recognize the rights of those who have been oppressed or ignored, what is it we are recognizing? Their humanity! you may answer. But what does that mean? Surely a baby and a corpse are as human as an adult Homo sapiens is, but only the adult can vote. Why?
In a word: personhood.
This realization gets to a central tenet of the philosophy of transhumanism: that rights are not derived from being human but from being a person. Consider the shows listed above, particularly Mass Effect and Star Trek, and ask if Worf or Liara or Data have “human rights.” Of course they don’t. But they do have rights. The rights are derived from their being sentient, sapient beings capable of autonomous, reflexive, symbolic, ethical, and willful thought. That is, they are persons — and persons have rights.
The brilliance of personhood as a foundation for rights is that it exists independent of biology, even of physical substrate. You already know about personhood because you’ve seen it in your favorite movies. The Iron Giant, District 9, Blade Runner, A.L.F., E.T., Monsters Inc. and Ratatouille are about personhood. The eponymous hero of The Iron Giant demonstrates his personhood by willfully not being a gun and saving the day; Remy does so less on a smaller scale but no less movingly in Ratatouille by cooking a gourmet meal that triggers a Proustian flashback in Paris’ toughest food critic. Personhood is what you discover when you stop trying to figure out what makes humans human and instead try to understand how we recognize another sentient mind. A mind imbued with rights.
So in other words, if you think it might not be so bad to marry a robot, or to allow others to marry a robot, then supporting the removal of Prop 8 in California is a smart idea.
