Mecha-morals: The ethics of artificial intelligence

October 26, 2007

The 2001 film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence imagines our world in a not-too-distant future. In it, robots have become an essential part of humanity, serving its ever-increasing needs. But as one might expect, their service is not welcomed by all, and to be sure, many resent them—and many take pleasure in destroying them.

This scenario leads us to ask the question how we ought to treat robots. This is something that might seem less relevant in contemporary society, where our machines are nowhere near the complexity of human beings. Yet a future with intelligent robots may come sooner than we think. Will we be prepared to integrate them into our lives, and will they warrant ethical treatment, or perhaps even require it? (The Ubyssey Online)