Student Entry

Student Name - Majdah Bar 

Submission Date - May 21. 2020

Topic Title - Do Robots Deserve Rights?

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Robots are advanced mechanical bodies, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), created by humans to help solve problems easily. AI has been a crucial part of our daily lives and our huge dependence upon it has changed our approaches to routine activities. As Elon Musk suggests AI has been an integral part of our lives, so much so that it has a similar importance to us like our limbs. He even claims that AI and robotics will outdo human intellect and emerge out to be smarter than its creators (Yang, 2019). Therefore, I believe robots deserve rights since AI and robotics have demonstrated to be time and resource-efficient.

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The typical concept of a robot (a giant steel body from the outside with a machine from the inside) has long been obsolete and replaced with a newer one. Currently, robots like Sophia are designed with a human-like body and are able to observe, learn, and perform various tasks (London, 2018). Philosophers have recently been more immersed in the debate whether or not robots should have rights. Andrew Feenberg claims that technology is an instrument/tool, harnessed by mankind, to meet their needs and use it to serve their purposes. Hence, they cannot have rights. While, others (proponents of properties approach) proposes the perspective stating that if a robot illustrates certain properties and features then they should be given rights (Gunkel, 2018).

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Moreover, AI and robots have not only intruded on the lives of individuals but, have taken over numerous industries over the last few decades. Machinery and robots are programmed to build, maintain, and perform jobs on a consistent rate of production or to facilitate a steady service rate in order to minimize waste and maximize output coupled with a lower probable chance of faults and failures. Medicine and the health-care industry have been revolutionized (Poola, 2017). Production, construction, and logistics industries have been transformed entirely to resulting in maximum outputs hence, the efficiency with respect to decreased input levels of resources.