show that even a computer capable of perfectly simulating human behavior would not have a mind.[387]
It is difficult or impossible to reliably evaluate whether an advanced AI is sentient (has the ability to feel),
and if so, to what degree.[388] But if there is a significant chance that a given machine can feel and suffer,
then it may be entitled to certain rights or welfare protection measures, similarly to animals.[389][390]
Sapience (a set of capacities related to high intelligence, such as discernment or self-awareness) may
provide another moral basis for AI rights.[389] Robot rights are also sometimes proposed as a practical
way to integrate autonomous agents into society.[391]
In 2017, the European Union considered granting "electronic personhood" to some of the most capable AI
systems. Similarly to the legal status of companies, it would have conferred rights but also
responsibilities.[392] Critics argued in 2018 that granting rights to AI systems would downplay the
importance of human rights, and that legislation should focus on user needs rather than speculative
futuristic scenarios. They also noted that robots lacked the autonomy to take part to society on their
own.[393][394]
Progress in AI increased interest in the topic. Proponents of AI welfare and rights often argue that AI
sentience, if it emerges, would be particularly easy to deny. They warn that this may be a moral blind spot
analogous to slavery or factory farming, which could lead to large-scale suffering if sentient AI is created
and carelessly exploited.[390][389]
A superintelligence is a hypothetical agent that would possess intelligence far surpassing that of the
brightest and most gifted human mind.[379] If research into artificial general intelligence produced
sufficiently intelligent software, it might be able to reprogram and improve itself. The improved software
would be even better at improving itself, leading to what I. J. Good called an "intelligence explosion" and
Vernor Vinge called a "singularity".[395]
However, technologies cannot improve exponentially indefinitely, and typically follow an S-shaped
curve, slowing when they reach the physical limits of what the technology can do.[396]
Robot designer Hans Moravec, cyberneticist Kevin Warwick and inventor Ray Kurzweil have predicted
that humans and machines may merge in the future into cyborgs that are more capable and powerful than
either. This idea, called transhumanism, has roots in the writings of Aldous Huxley and Robert
Ettinger.[397]
AI welfare and rights
Future
Superintelligence and the singularity
Transhumanism