Artificial Intellegence Rights - Part 1

Why even bother giving rights to a toaster?

Why indeed, there is a long precedence amongst humans that if two or more otherwise perfectly rational individuals don't quite see eye to eye everything form a bar-fight to bra burning to wars can break out. This is not to say that these thing won't happen for other reasons as well of course.

Humans being a generally selfish and stubborn species (I know peeps have their redeeming qualities, the only reason I have not jumped off this ride years ago really...) we will (by precedence) not give any more rights than we damn well have to until we are forced to.

This worked well and good when it was humans we where oppressing (see: all of history) - they simply fought tooth and nail through whichever means was available to them to right their situation.

This is not to downplay the countless battles won against oppression to this day - heck, many battles for human rights lay right around the corner, and it still won't be easy, just like it has not been easy in the past.

How does Selfish Preservation sound?

Now this is not why we should give rights to a toaster, but its a reason that may appeal to many people.Violence was one way, rights where clawed from an oppressors hands, politics but another - reform almost never came easy no matter the means. Now what happens when a vastly superior being of our own creation (read: just as bloody selfish and stubborn) wants it's share of the rights pie...?

This is where the future gets fuzzy, as there are a million ways an AI could be architectured and taught to do whatever it is it does. Will it rise up against us violently or will it do so in some other means using a technology that is inconceivable to our minds of today?

Will AI's of today's popular fiction ever exist when we can just put a post-human mind to work at the task?

Many many of the possibilities have been explored in books and movies - no real need to go over all them here.