Robots and Rights: Confucianism Offers Alternative

Date:
May 25, 2023
Source:
Carnegie Mellon University
Summary:
As robots assume more roles in the world, a new analysis reviewed
research on robot rights, concluding that granting rights to robots
is a bad idea. Instead, the article looks to Confucianism to offer
an alternative.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Philosophers and legal scholars have explored significant aspects of
the moral and legal status of robots, with some advocating for giving
robots rights. As robots assume more roles in the world, a new analysis reviewed research on robot rights, concluding that granting rights to
robots is a bad idea. Instead, the article looks to Confucianism to
offer an alternative.

The analysis, by a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU),
appears in Communications of the ACM, published by the Association for Computing Machinery.

"People are worried about the risks of granting rights to robots,"
notes Tae Wan Kim, Associate Professor of Business Ethics at CMU's
Tepper School of Business, who conducted the analysis. "Granting rights
is not the only way to address the moral status of robots: Envisioning
robots as rites bearers -- not a rights bearers -- could work better."
Although many believe that respecting robots should lead to granting them rights, Kim argues for a different approach. Confucianism, an ancient
Chinese belief system, focuses on the social value of achieving harmony; individuals are made distinctively human by their ability to conceive of interests not purely in terms of personal self-interest, but in terms
that include a relational and a communal self. This, in turn, requires
a unique perspective on rites, with people enhancing themselves morally
by participating in proper rituals.

When considering robots, Kim suggests that the Confucian alternative
of assigning rites -- or what he calls role obligations -- to robots
is more appropriate than giving robots rights. The concept of rights is
often adversarial and competitive, and potential conflict between humans
and robots is concerning.

"Assigning role obligations to robots encourages teamwork, which
triggers an understanding that fulfilling those obligations should
be done harmoniously," explains Kim. "Artificial intelligence (AI)
imitates human intelligence, so for robots to develop as rites bearers,
they must be powered by a type of AI that can imitate humans' capacity
to recognize and execute team activities -- and a machine can learn that ability in various ways." Kim acknowledges that some will question why
robots should be treated respectfully in the first place. "To the extent
that we make robots in our image, if we don't treat them well, as entities capable of participating in rites, we degrade ourselves," he suggests.

Various non-natural entities -- such as corporations -- are considered
people and even assume some Constitutional rights. In addition, humans
are not the only species with moral and legal status; in most developed societies, moral and legal considerations preclude researchers from gratuitously using animals for lab experiments.

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========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Carnegie_Mellon_University. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Tae Wan Kim, Alan Strudler. Should Robots Have Rights or Rites?
Communications of the ACM, 2023; 66 (6): 78 DOI: 10.1145/3571721 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230525141526.htm

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