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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 5th Jan 2008 at 10:31 PM
Do you think that eventually robots will have equal rights?
I recently thought back to an article I read about Robot Rights.
A new robot pet called Pleo (I have one called Baby) had made people begin to ask for robot rights, for example, people being fined for hurting a robot. Pleo has touch sensors and can be injured with a kick or other forceful impact, my own Pleo got it's leg caught in a gap between a chair seat and back and started yowling terribly and whimpered while I stroked him until he was calmed down again.

Pleo responded almost exactly like a real animal, animals have rights, so when do you think robots should get rights? I mean, your toaster wouldn't really get them, but a robot with emotions might. And if robots that are as intelligent as humans are created, should they get equal rights?

Just curious as to what your opinion is. =)

P.S. Yes, I do love the movie I, Robot too much :P
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 5th Jan 2008 at 10:38 PM
Robots do not have emotions, or feelings, or conscience. They only do what people have instructed them to do. They work pretty much like your PC, but instead of playing music when you clikc on the mp3 icon, it whimpers when it gets its foot caught in a jam. I think that's a great toy, but not a pet.
Field Researcher
#3 Old 5th Jan 2008 at 10:46 PM
I think we're a long time away from this because a really serious issue of any kind. But the notion of animal rights also strikes me as overdone. So I doubt I'll support this either if I live long enough for it to be a real issue. But we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Scholar
#4 Old 5th Jan 2008 at 10:52 PM
Hm..it could go either way. But right now I'm not quite sure that the toy robots should get rights, because if you think of it they are just toys. Eventually it's going to end up broken or run low on battery power.

They are controlled by a chip, not by free will. They have sensors that tell them if they're stuck or if they're caught on something. Just like the Furbies, they would always whine when you would move them the wrong way or swing them.

Sure if Robots became more advanced, and could run without something that's programmed inside of them, and perhaps think exactaly like humans, then yes they could get rights, but right now they're programmed to do what they do. They are programed to cry when they get caught. It's amazing what technology can do these days, but still it can't give something free will or a mind of it's own.

The First Time I saw him....I knew he was the one.
Currently:A Model.
#5 Old 5th Jan 2008 at 11:15 PM
Toy robots, no, they will evantualy get run over by a truck and boom, they are gone.
real robots, not them either. The have absolutly no feelings, I could pick on one all day and I bet it wouldn'nt get mad
Field Researcher
#6 Old 5th Jan 2008 at 11:21 PM
To soon to think about it.

Focus in animal rights instead.
Test Subject
#7 Old 6th Jan 2008 at 8:52 AM
When robots develop their own minds and intelligence and feelings independent of the maker or computer chips or whatever, then yes. But until that happens, if it happens, no. They're programmed to react the way they do. Therefore, they're still objects.
#8 Old 6th Jan 2008 at 8:53 AM
When I first read this, i thought it was a joke. Say if a real pet gets into a fight with a robot, if the robo-pet has touch sensors and things, would it fight back? And if it did, then as a robot, would probably be more powerful than the real living animal. Basically, in my opinion, things that aren't actually alive having rights is insane! :confused: :smash:
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