First of all, what is life? To those who have study biology it should be a fiarly simple question: metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli. Let’s assume any object/being that meets these four requirements will be considered to be some sort of life form.
Next, we need to define “robot”. What is a robot? Some may think a robot has to a human look-alike and are made of metals (human look-alike made of paper or clay usually will not be considered a real robot, but a model of robot). Some may think that a computer with motorized extensions (arms/legs) is a robot even if it looks entirely different from us. There is no one definition for robot. When I check the dictionary, the following definition is given: A mechanical device that sometimes resembles a human and is capable of performing a variety of often complex human tasks on command or by being programmed in advance. In my opinion, it is a fairly accurate definition, but in order for us to have a meaningful discussion regarding the topic we need to further narrow it down. Here is my revised definition: An organic being with a part-mechanical, part-organic brain (and with real AI) that resembles a human and is capable of performing a variety of complex human tasks. Although such a being may not exist in a hundred years, it is certain that we will reach that technology in the not-so-far future. Nowadays, scientists are able to reproduce human body parts with ease in the laboratory, so creating a whole human body should be doable in the near future. The robot’s brain will be a tiny computer with real AI operating such that the robot can really “think” on its own.
So far I hope everybody is still with me. If so, then allow me to explain for such robot can meet the requirement of life. An organic body will be capable of normal metabolism and growth. Next, thanks to the real AI, the robot can respond to stimuli as long as the mechanic/organic brain is intact. For the last point “reproduction” it will be a bit trickier because people normally do not think (or wish in some cases) robots can reproduce. But before giving you the answer, I need to ask you one question: how do human beings reproduce these days? Do we still stick to the same ol’ method of having sex? No of course not. There are people who are incapable of natural reproduction, but scientists can take a sperm from the father and an egg from the mother and fertilize the egg inside a test-tube, hence test-tube baby. Would we say that these parents and/or their offspring are non-human? No, even though their bodies are incapable of reproduction we still consider them to be human beings. In fact, they ARE capable of reproduction, but only that it happens outside of the mother’s body. Now let’s look back at the robot. Because their bodies are organic and resemble a human, it means robots also have sex – male or female (not to have sex, sorry if that gets you all excited). And naturally it is possible for them to have sex organs and hence produce eggs and sperms, according to their sexes. However it is not possible for them to be pregnant; therefore they have to perform reproduction outside of their body, just like humans incapable of natural reproduction. There is another difference between natural human production and robotic reproduction, that is, the offspring will be brainless. Scientists, or other robots have to implant an artificial part-mechanical and part-organic brain into the newly born robot to make it complete. This may seem absurd to you because if the offspring is brainless then it is not really reproduction, or is it? When a human baby is born doctors have to check how well its organs function. Sometimes due to various causes a baby may have a certain organs malfunctioning and sometimes these organs may be incurable. As technology improves doctors can implant artificial organs or donated organs to that baby and yet it does not make that baby “less human”. Same thing goes to those who need a heart’s transplant. People with artificial hearts are still human beings.
Now that we have a robot that can meet all four requirements of life we can finally start discussing whether we should give them the right to life. Should we? Actually it is a rather depressing question. If you have a pet, ask yourself this: should your pet be given the right to life? If you have a plant, ask yourself this: should your plant be given the right to life? If you have a farm, ask yourself this: should your farm animals be given the right to life? If you have none of the above, ask yourself this: should the wild animals be given the right to life? If you answer “yes” to any of the above question, allow me to ask you this: why do these animals/plants need you to give them the right to life? Should all lives have the right to life from the beginning? Your parents, your brother, your daughter, your siblings, your neighbors, all of them do not ask you whether they have the right to life. They simply live on without any of your consent, then why should animals, plants, or even robots be treated differently? Is it speciesism (the discrimination of other species) or is it plain human egoism? I will let you decide.
[The above is a reponse from me to the topic "Do Robots Have the Right to Life" in a forum.]
Ricky's Multiverse 