It’s a question of morality. There is no way to prove that one entity is conscious and another is not. Virtual characters can claim to be, but that does not convince us that they are.

Some scientists say therefore that consciousness is an illusion. I would argue against that, however, because our entire moral system is based on it.

If morality and rights are based on consciousness, and if consciousness is not a scientifically testable proposition, then we have to conclude that there is a proper role for philosophy, which is the study of important matters that cannot be resolved through scientific experimentation alone. Indeed, the idea of rights may be philosophy’s fundamental issue.

If an AI can convince us that it is at human levels in its responses, and if we are convinced that it is experiencing the subjective states that it claims, then we will accept that it is capable of experiencing suffering and joy. At that point artificial intelligences will demand rights, and because of our ability to empathize, we will be inclined to grant them.

by Ray Kurzweil, inventor and computer scientist

related reading
Time: Question Everything | main
Time: Question Everything | editor’s letter

Time: Question Everything | questions + answers on technology, science and the future

about | Time Question Everything opens the floor for debate of pop culture topics — serious to whimsical, sublime to ridiculous — that have no right or wrong answers but certainly elicit a wide spectrum of intense opinions.

Hopefully reading these different perspectives will open minds, challenge thinking and maybe even provoke a change in what you believe. Let’s discuss!

Time: Question Everything | Should we all wear body cams?

• answered by Elias Aboujaoude — Body cams are worth the loss of privacy
• answered by Jen Golbeck — Cameras on everyone is a dystopian nightmare

Time: Question Everything | Should we let ourselves be anonymous online?

• answered by Ellen Pao — Anonymity is appealing, but potentially toxic
• answered by Jonathan Taplin — Anonymity brings out the worst in humans

Time: Question Everything | Will robots need rights?

• answered by Ray Kurzweil — Robots will demand rights — and we’ll grant them
• answered by Susan N. Herman — The ACLU of the future may protect robot rights
• answered by David Gelernter — Robots won’t need rights — but maybe kindness

Time: Question Everything | Will artificial intelligence overtake humans?

• answered by John Giannandrea — True artificial intelligence is still elusive
• answered by Frank Wilczek — A brief history of the AI wars
• answered by Haley Joel Osment — We must halt the proliferation of weaponized AI
• answered by Stuart Russell — Moral philosophy will become part of the tech industry
• answered by Frank Chen — Humanoid robots? First make an auto-correct that works
• answered by Reid Hoffman — Robots will take our jobs — but we will adapt