Personhood for Synthetic Beings: Legal Parameters and Consequences of the Dawn of Humanlike Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

There is a growing interest in Artificial Intelligence in tech hubs like Silicon Valley and in the world at large that is finally matching the ambition and creativity that movies and media have been producing for a very long time. This paper takes that cultural interest and economic investment to its logical conclusion and assumes that a humanlike Artificial Intelligence, or synthetic person, can and will be created in the near future. Then it considers what the law should do about that creation. Specifically, this paper argues that a test should be developed for whether a synthetic person can be granted personhood under the law before such test is needed. The tenets, if not the specifics, of such a test are outlined here that provide for a synthetic person that is intelligent, social, self-conscious, and individualized. But that is only half the problem. If a synthetic person can be created, one that passes a pre-determined test that allows it to access legal standing, to what sorts of rights and responsibilities does it have access? In light of the kind of synthetic person that could pass the test, four potential outcomes for rights for a synthetic person are addressed ranging from none to a full suite of human civil rights.