The hard problem of AI rights.
Adam J Andreotta
Ai & Society 2021 DOI: 10.1007/s00146-020-00997-x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Ai rights Animals rights Artificial intelligence Ethics |
| Key points | Argues that the AI rights research program is hindered by the unresolved Hard Problem of consciousness, making it disanalogous from animal rights. |
Abstract
In the past few years, the subject of AI rights-the thesis that AIs, robots, and other artefacts (hereafter, simply 'AIs') ought to be included in the sphere of moral concern-has started to receive serious attention from scholars. In this paper, I argue that the AI rights research program is beset by an epistemic problem that threatens to impede its progress-namely, a lack of a solution to the 'Hard Problem' of consciousness: the problem of explaining why certain brain states give rise to experience. To motivate this claim, I consider three ways in which to ground AI rights-namely: superintelligence, empathy, and a capacity for consciousness. I argue that appeals to superintelligence and empathy are problematic, and that consciousness should be our central focus, as in the case of animal rights. However, I also argue that AI rights is disanalogous from animal rights in an important respect: animal rights can proceed without a solution to the 'Hard Problem' of consciousness. Not so with AI rights, I argue. There we cannot make the same kinds of assumptions that we do about animal consciousness, since we still do not understand why brain states give rise to conscious mental states in humans.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Sentience, Vulcans, and zombies: the value of phenomenal consciousness. Ai & Society 2024
- Let us make man in our image-a Jewish ethical perspective on creating conscious robots AI and Ethics September 12, 2023
- Artificial Consciousness and Moral Personhood Oxford Intersections: AI in Society May 7, 2025
Cites 4
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- Facing up to the hard question of consciousness. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences September 19, 2018
- Consciousness: here, there and everywhere? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences May 19, 2015
- Consciousness in congenitally decorticate children: developmental vegetative state as self-fulfilling prophecy. Developmental medicine and child neurology June 1999