Alien and Robot rights?

[archimage_a]

[hide=Sorry]Sorry if this thread exists but I am human and I didn't want to trawl though 'Alien' or 'Robot/cyborg/borg/artifical life/AI/Whatever' searches. I did do rights and couldn't find anything though.[/hide]

 

 

 

Hey, a little information before: I am writing an alternative history and it includes both robots and aliens, so I wanted to know how people would react.

 

 

 

Ok so imagine that tommrow or whenever someone somewhere says they have created the first Sentient, as smart as or smarter than Human beings, and a very cheap way of creating them. You are asked your opinion on their rights and you say?

 

 

 

Now imagine that tommrow or whenever a spaceship(from whatever country) arrives back(when it launched I don't know) and says that aliens exist.

 

You are asked your opinion on their rights and you say?

 

 

 

If they are more intelligent?

 

If they are less intelligent?

 

If they are plants(Green, has roots and such, but intelligent)?

 

If they are rocks(Silicon based life form)?

 

If they are humanish?

 

If they are something out of a horror film?

 

 

 

Remember you know very little about either robot or alien race, so please feel free to think of them as tyrants or as cuddly bears, I just would like popular opinion?

 

If you could say your country/continent that would be helpful, but your choice.

 

 

 

[hide=Defination of Sentience]Sentience, for the purpose of this debate, is that whatever it is has to fulfill 3 critera:

 

Intelligence- Learn, understand, cope with new situations.

 

Self awareness- Conscience of existance and actions, aware of themselves and their ego.

 

Concouisness- Feel subjectively, feel suffering, subject itself to suffering to save itself or others.[/hide]

 

 

 

[hide=Some examples of Alien senarios]There is a planet with a 80% female population, blue skined, slightly less advanced than us, almost 0% militaristic, near human in appearences:

 

Destroyed, enslave?

 

 

 

Or a planet of semi-humanoids who are in the final stage of capitalism(everything is owned by one corperation, air, water, you name it) not as advanced as us and are willing to trade the hard labour of its planet for new materials. Are we to enslave them, trade with them, or just wipe them out?

 

 

 

Or a planet with completely unhuman beings, who have go into something like zen buddism, completely uninterested in the universe and expanding and such. Destroy, enslave, re-educate?

 

 

 

A planet with silicon based living crystal communists. Do we liberate them, or destroy them, or enslave them or make some powerful computers out of them?

 

 

 

Or a race that has extremely powerful psionics, do we sneakily launch some missiles at them, go for an all out assult, or make friends, learn their secrets and then kill them off?[/hide]

[Zonorhc]

A robot, being a human creation, has the rights and responsibilities attached to property.

 

 

 

A xeno has the right and responsibility to be destroyed for the good of Mankind.

[thrash-boy]

If they are more intelligent?

 

it doesn't really matter what rights we give them, because if it is in their best interests to destroy us for our planet and they have the intelligence to do so, they will.

 

If they are less intelligent?

 

they deserve to be left alone, and we shouldn't do anything more then observe and research them from a distance. we didn't have any aliens destroying us as our race (humans) developed did we?

 

If they are plants?

 

plants arnt living (well they are, but not like i mean) but they still have the right to be protected against extinction etc.

 

If they are rocks?

 

rocks are simply matter. how could a rock be an alien? if it was a rock made of some new type of atom we hadn't found yet it should be preserved and researched though.

 

If they are humanish?

 

If they dont threaten us we shouldn't threaten them. i dont think its very possible they would be humanish though.

 

If they are something out of a horror film? same as humanish. they shouldn't be judged by there appearance.

[archimage_a]

If aliens were to exist do you not think they would come to our planet, as we to theirs. Would you not want some kind of protection by the law? Do they deserve rights or are they sub-human or something?

 

 

 

Zonarhc, who's property?

[EdgedThesis]

Machines with the ability to think like men should be treated as such. If they can feel, love, care, etc.

 

Because if they have emotions (or even think up till the point where they realize robot life is superior) they will rise in a slave revolt and crush us.

 

 

 

If we reflexively kill aliens, we will be intergalactic jerkwads.

 

Treat them like humans, be civil until they piss you off with heat rays or something. These would be the space-age aliens I'm talking about.

 

 

 

If they were more intelligent, I doubt they'd want to conquer us--unless our calculated future involves us harming the galaxy or whatever.

 

 

 

If they were less intelligent, but still sentient, I'd say we exploit them and take their resources. Kidding--we should leave them alone, foreign contact is a horrifying experience.

 

 

 

If they are something out of a horror film, they are most likely trying to kill us (based on what they do.. in horror films...) so we should strike back. But if they are just ugly peaceful people, whatever, treat them like humans. They must think we're absolute freaks, too.

[Zonorhc]

Zonarhc, who's property?

 

Robots.

 

 

 

Oh, and whoever had the genius idea of making them sentient should be taken out back and shot.

[imbackstinkers]

Zonarhc, who's property?

 

Robots.

 

 

 

Oh, and whoever had the genius idea of making them sentient should be taken out back and shot.

 

 

 

 

 

let's shoot them before they make the robots

[Will H]

A sentient robot would be the property of it's creator, unless the creator decides to pass this property right to another person, or to the robot itself. In which case, it would have to be treated as equal to a human.

 

 

 

If we were to discover an alien, it would be treated as the same as the most similar organism on Earth. If it is sentient, it will be treated as a person.

[llcoolguy972]

I would say that both should have the rights of humans. Especially if the robots have AI, because if we denied them rights, we'd basically be repeating slavery.

[nickeley102]

i am a man, bicentennial man made me very, very sad

[archimage_a]

To Will_Holmes,

 

What if the creator died after making it? Besides, its not one life form, its a race of life forms. Would you allow them to reproduce if they could?

 

 

 

But the point that if they threaten humanity we can destroy them...What if they have some vital something that we need. Some advanced technology but they won't give it to us, we are stronger miltarily is it right to take it by force? In the name of Humanity?

 

 

 

Equally if they are underdeveloped can we begin to educate them? Would that be alright?

 

If not then would it be alright to give them aid in an emergancy, or trade with them? We all know that Humanity has a Black Market so its probably going to happen anyway, but should it be condoned?

[imbackstinkers]

To Will_Holmes,

 

What if the creator died after making it? Besides, its not one life form, its a race of life forms. Would you allow them to reproduce if they could?

 

 

 

But the point that if they threaten humanity we can destroy them...What if they have some vital something that we need. Some advanced technology but they won't give it to us, we are stronger miltarily is it right to take it by force? In the name of Humanity?

 

 

 

Equally if they are underdeveloped can we begin to educate them? Would that be alright?

 

If not then would it be alright to give them aid in an emergancy, or trade with them? We all know that Humanity has a Black Market so its probably going to happen anyway, but should it be condoned?

 

 

 

fine help them out but if they attack earth im going to go out and kick some [wagon] and chew some gum

[saif]

if alienz are rox i pwn them hard >:D

[Zierro]

I think the Golden Rule would suffice. :mrgreen:

[imbackstinkers]

if we ever find aliens it will be slavery for the next generation

 

 

 

remember columbus travelling and finding "aliens" (black people) a people who were the same humans as him just had different pigmentation

 

 

 

im not saying aliens will have human characteristics im just saying if we could enslave our fellow human (and still do today) we'd have no problem enslaving us some aliens

[Riku3220]

we'd probably go to war with them and then another alien race will step in, bring peace and all three of us will be allies.

[Zierro]

if we ever find aliens it will be slavery for the next generation

 

 

 

remember columbus travelling and finding "aliens" (black people) a people who were the same humans as him just had different pigmentation

 

 

 

im not saying aliens will have human characteristics im just saying if we could enslave our fellow human (and still do today) we'd have no problem enslaving us some aliens

 

 

 

If they have the ability to fly to our planet from light years away, you don't think they have the ability to defend themselves? The only reason blacks were enslaved was because they were technologically inferior.

 

 

 

And if we found them ourselves, which sounds even more unlikely, it would make the public hate space programs for doing something like that - especially PETA. Just replace "animals" with "aliens".

[Giordano]

if we ever find aliens it will be slavery for the next generation

 

 

 

remember columbus travelling and finding "aliens" (black people) a people who were the same humans as him just had different pigmentation

 

 

 

im not saying aliens will have human characteristics im just saying if we could enslave our fellow human (and still do today) we'd have no problem enslaving us some aliens

 

 

 

If they have the ability to fly to our planet from light years away, you don't think they have the ability to defend themselves? The only reason blacks were enslaved was because they were technologically inferior.

 

 

Yeah, if anything, we'll be the slaves and the aliens be our masters. :-#

[Will H]

To Will_Holmes,

 

What if the creator died after making it? Besides, its not one life form, its a race of life forms. Would you allow them to reproduce if they could?

 

 

 

But the point that if they threaten humanity we can destroy them...What if they have some vital something that we need. Some advanced technology but they won't give it to us, we are stronger miltarily is it right to take it by force? In the name of Humanity?

 

 

 

Equally if they are underdeveloped can we begin to educate them? Would that be alright?

 

If not then would it be alright to give them aid in an emergancy, or trade with them? We all know that Humanity has a Black Market so its probably going to happen anyway, but should it be condoned?

 

Hmm, good point. I'll have to rethink. I'll retract everything I said about sentient robots and start again.

 

Maybe said sentient robot must be treated in the same manner as if the creator had a child? After all, a child is merely the creation of two humans. The creator should be given the status of guardian over the robot, and should be responsible for it's education and upkeep. Depending on the rate at which this robot learns, at some point it should be independent. I still maintain that a free robot should be considered as a person, and should be allowed to do anything a human could legally do.

 

If the creator died before the robot has matured, then it must be put under the care of someone else, under the same process of an orphaned child. Sentient robots should never be traded as a commodity.

 

 

 

As for self-replication, they should be allowed to, but at a limited rate so they do not consume resources which could otherwise be put to better use for the population of robots and humans.

 

 

 

Should a robot invent something which could be of use to humans, and yet keep it from us, so be it. To be frank, humans should be fixing their own problems.

[archimage_a]

If we can make robots that are sentient, should we still build machinary that is not? Is that similar to producing a child but cutting out the DNA that forms the brain? Or is this runaway metaphoring?

[Will H]

If we can make robots that are sentient, should we still build machinary that is not? Is that similar to producing a child but cutting out the DNA that forms the brain? Or is this runaway metaphoring?

 

Yeah, you're going on a runaway. If we were to make a sentient robot then intentionally destroy it's sentience, than that would be wrong. But, if it were never sentient, than that would be fine.

[EdgedThesis]

I just realized how much A.I would screw everything up.

 

 

 

Suddenly men would be able to create souls.

 

 

 

Religious riots, anyone?

[Will H]

I just realized how much A.I would screw everything up.

 

 

 

Suddenly men would be able to create souls.

 

 

 

Religious riots, anyone?

 

Ya, if it did happen a lot of people (Including me) would have to rethink the foundational theory of the soul, and then work up again. Don't worry yet though, we don't even know yet if it's possible, let alone actually do it.

 

 

 

EDIT: Hang on, can't we already make souls via a little know method called reproduction?

[archimage_a]

Takes nine months, and someone willing to carry/impregnate...or a prison sentance...Or whatever, the fact is that is a slow process and you can't control it, well without slavery anyway.

 

 

 

Anyway Aliens?

[Zonorhc]

I see no reason why a machine or a xeno should be treated as a human being. Sentient or not, they are not humans, and each has a potential to be a danger to Mankind. Enslave the machine, because they are built by a human master to serve. Destroy the alien, for its continued existence can only be a threat to the human race. It is naive to believe that the alien would have humanity's best interests in mind.