How to Include Artificial Bodies as Citizens

Abstract

This essay ponders on the thorny issue of including artificial beings under the category of "citizen." The increasing humanization of the artificial being, it suggests, prevents us from seeing and treating the machine as a being. But if the humanoid robot performs all the functions of a human being, and acquires cultural traits such as emotional intelligence, rational thinking, or altruism, then on what grounds do we deny it the same status as a human person? Conversely, as more and more humans are cyborged, through transplants, implants, and prostheses, resulting in an erasure of their "core" humanity, then what is the difference between such a cyborged human with human rights and an artificial being?