Synthetics and Sophont Rights

[Garnfellow]

I had an interesting thought: The Solomani Confederation is generally seen as a less enlightened society than the Third Imperium, largely due to the pervasive and odious ideology of Solomani superiority.

But on at least one point, the Confederation might actually be much more progressive than the Imperium.

In the 17th year of the Imperium, Cleon Zhunastu declared, "Any sentient life form within the Imperial borders, regardless of its origin, is a protected being, and thus a citizen of the Third Imperium." Cleon went on to say that robots are not citizens of the lmperium. "One may argue that an intelligent robot might be sentient," stated Cleon,"but it is definitely not a life form." In taking this stand, Cleon clearly sided with the industrial interests in the lmperium by declaring robots to be property, not citizens.

Imperial Encyclopedia, p. 36.​

Androids are accepted as Confederation citizens if their mentality originates from a Solomani model. This view is not accepted by many member-states, who refuse to grant local citizenship.

Robots that do not conclusively exhibit artificial intelligence are treated as tools or machines. They have no rights or political status.

Computers and robots that do demonstrate self-awareness and Al capabilities are eligible for limited citizenship and status. Many legal proceedings have taken place where attempts have been made to prove the sentience of a man-made construct. Very few machines in our history have been able to pass this rigorous Turing-Ogunro test, however; many of those that have are almost legendary.

Solomani and Aslan - The Spinward Races p. 17​

T5 makes a helpful distinction between robots, synthetics, and clones. Robots are clearly unliving, inorganic constructs and thus ineligible for Imperial citizenship, though they might qualify for limited Confederation citizenship. Clones are living, organic sophonts and eligible for citizenship in either polity.

Synthetics are artificial beings "blending organic (living) and mechanical (non-living) elements. Synthetic refers to the general class of created beings between natural and robotic" (T5 p. 92). Blade Runner replicants, rebooted Westworld hosts and rebooted Battlestar Gallactica cylons are all very close in concept to T5 synthetics. (Roger Moore's article on "Androids in Traveller" from White Dwarf 30 is also very close.)

Androids are a specific type of synthetic made in the image of a human. If patterned after a Solomani, an android qualifies for Confederation citizenship. But are they really living? As described in T5, sophontoids cannot reproduce or be cloned, and are only semi-organic. Which suggests to me they might very well be ineligible for Imperial citizenship.

Imagine, if you will, an underground railroad that smuggles Imperial androids, little more than slaves to the Megacorps, into the Solomani Confederation where they can finally be free. Really turns a lot of common conceptions on their heads.

 

[LeperColony]

It is an interesting dichotomy.

Though given how weak the Imperial central government is, I'd tend to think the position of planetary governments is more relevant to a synthetic's quality of life.

 

[Fovean]

I toyed with similar ideas for an ATU many years ago, envisioning a secret confederation of planets where people with augments, sentient robots and AI could exist peacefully in response to a sort of Shudusham (sp?) accord in the main empire. I had some vague ideas about the deeper you got into the area the more entrenched the technologies became until there was a single world (for now) that was essentially a massive AI, a global cybernetic group-mind.

It was turning into a sort of Underground Railroad/Black Curtain/Virus situation (which I was unhappy with - it seemed to have a mind of its own!) but ultimately the need for interstellar trade did them in; they weren't self-sufficient enough before they were being discovered and the cycle of prejudice/oppression continued. I didn't explore clones, chimeras, etc as this was strictly about cybernetics/robotics/AI. If I were to do it again, I have some better ideas how to handle it but alas.

I suppose an entity with the might/scope of the Solomani Confed could harbor/hide/support such an offshoot society but it didn't work with the other polities I had in place.

I think you're positing a cool idea but with the old "robots exist in the 3I, they're just in the background" meme I'm not sure anyone would notice or care. You'd have to make robotics etc a much more visible aspect of the 3I for the idea to take root as a playable campaign situation. Despite their 1e Cybernetics supplement, even Mongoose hasn't been able to do much with these ideas in a campaign sense.

Having said that, the OTU is upside down now with the revelations of T5 and Agent of the Imperium. I suppose anything's possible at this point.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

It's a world by world case thing.

 

[Garnfellow]

It's a world by world case thing.

Yes and no. Yes, individual worlds within the Imperium present a tremendous variety of attitudes toward synthetics and this will be reflected in a tremendous variety of planetary laws. The Imperium grants member worlds considerable latitude in how they govern themselves, with few exceptions -- but those exceptions include some basic principles of sophont rights:

The Imperium considers as citizens any living recognized sentient creature native to or naturalized by a member world of the Imperium, or any living recognized sentient creature swearing fealty to the Imperium directly. No immunity, protection, right, or privilege granted by the Imperium to a Citizen of the Imperium may be abridged or denied by any member world.

Chattel slavery shall not exist within the Imperium, nor in any territory directly under its control, nor on any member world, nor within any territory with which a member world shall have dealings.

A living sophont in the Imperium has the assurance that she can travel to any world in the Imperium and will still enjoy certain basic rights as a Citizen of the Imperium. She is still subject to the local laws of the member worlds, however unfair or arbitrary those might be, but she remains a Citizen wherever she goes.

A synthetic person enjoys no such freedom. Individual worlds may grant them significant local rights and protections, but cannot make them Citizens of the Imperium.

 

[The Pakkrat]

Be aware of Onwee and Rust, two conditions suffered by robots, be they brained with Electronic Brains, Positronic Brains or Organic Brains. Would the Solomani Confederation be capable of helping such entities with those mental conditions? How about those entities with significant damage and yet online enough to still converse? What policies would be in place to aid those with physical damage?

Some side dish for thought.

 

[coliver988]

Be aware of Onwee and Rust, two conditions suffered by robots, be they brained with Electronic Brains, Positronic Brains or Organic Brains. Would the Solomani Confederation be capable of helping such entities with those mental conditions? How about those entities with significant damage and yet online enough to still converse? What policies would be in place to aid those with physical damage?

Some side dish for thought.

The Solomani Disabilities Act has a section dealing with artificial life forms. Cargo ramps, emergency chargers and white noise generators (it soothes positronic brain fluctuations) are mandatory for corporations with more than 25 sophonts.

 

[Condottiere]

Tends to come down to experience (past history) and ideology.

To some extent, the Confederation is both a mass of compromises and a harkening (and hankering) back to the Golden Age of humanity (spelled with a y), as how they interpret it.

 

[Timerover51]

The Solomani Disabilities Act has a section dealing with artificial life forms. Cargo ramps, emergency chargers and white noise generators (it soothes positronic brain fluctuations) are mandatory for corporations with more than 25 sophonts.

just curious, where does this appear in Traveller material?

Also, given the additional cost this would impose on businesses, small businesses would work very hard to keep below 25 employees. That is how it works in the real world. If you impose raised costs on businesses, they will work very hard to get around the bureaucratically imposed increased costs.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a major reason why older buildings are not moderately renovated, as if work on the building is above a certain level, the entire building has to be brought within ADA compliance. For my church, as an example, to do that would run into the millions of dollars. For the public library that I served on the board of, it meant that putting in a storage area in a basement in a new building was not possible as that would require an elevator to be installed, driving up initial building cost and also maintenance cost.

Do you understand how much space cargo ramps would take up that is wasted from the standpoint of the businesses, along with all of the additional wiring and the annoyance of "White Noise" to the other employees?

 

[Reban]

Synthetics are artificial beings "blending organic (living) and mechanical (non-living) elements. Synthetic refers to the general class of created beings between natural and robotic" (T5 p. 92). Blade Runner replicants, rebooted Westworld hosts and rebooted Battlestar Gallactica cylons are all very close in concept to T5 synthetics. (Roger Moore's article on "Androids in Traveller" from White Dwarf 30 is also very close.)

Androids are a specific type of synthetic made in the image of a human. If patterned after a Solomani, an android qualifies for Confederation citizenship. But are they really living? As described in T5, sophontoids cannot reproduce or be cloned, and are only semi-organic. Which suggests to me they might very well be ineligible for Imperial citizenship.

Thinking about that synthetic snake in Bladerunner, or (I think I remember) the synthetic dog in Ghost in the Shell.

Do animal rights apply to synthetics patterned after animals?

Whats the point of synthetic animals if they have no appreciable difference to a real or cloned version, including having the same rights?

If there is a difference then we must look at their niche in the OTU and the niche for sophontoids in OTU society.

It seems to me that understanding their niche would indicate what rights they have or more particularly what rights they lack.

If you can define their role in society, you can imagine what rights they might lack. For example a sophontoid thats build to be a nurse for the elderly might lack the right to time off. An android built to double for a VIP (or Emperor) might not have the same legal protections as a sophont, no duty of care by the employer to provide a safe work environment i.e.you may get assassinated.

We probably don't have enough information to define that niche, but that doesn't stop us speculating. And synthetic and android characters in the wider sci-fi world are good material to use.

 

[Reban]

We probably don't have enough information to define that niche, but that doesn't stop us speculating. And synthetic and android characters in the wider sci-fi world are good material to use.

Actually there's more than I remembered:

- They are Manufactured (therefore they are a product?)

- They come in two varieties: Batch and Premium

- They are Marked to show they are synthetic

- They have inbuilt Controls that make them dependent

- They cannot Reproduce


All that language leans more to them being a product and a thing rather than something that has sophont-rights. On the other hand they are so hard to tell from sophonts or the original biological pattern that it would be a very strange (repulsive to me) society that did not give them some right, if alone to guard the dignity of the sophont they are patterned on.

 

[Garnfellow]

All that language leans more to them being a product and a thing rather than something that has sophont-rights. On the other hand they are so hard to tell from sophonts or the original biological pattern that it would be a very strange (repulsive to me) society that did not give them some right, if alone to guard the dignity of the sophont they are patterned on.

Yeah, that's where I landed, too -- the adventure hooks really just write themselves.

 

[Enoki]

Actually there's more than I remembered:

- They are Manufactured (therefore they are a product?)

- They come in two varieties: Batch and Premium

- They are Marked to show they are synthetic

- They have inbuilt Controls that make them dependent

- They cannot Reproduce


All that language leans more to them being a product and a thing rather than something that has sophont-rights. On the other hand they are so hard to tell from sophonts or the original biological pattern that it would be a very strange (repulsive to me) society that did not give them some right, if alone to guard the dignity of the sophont they are patterned on.

This really drives at the heart of the issue. If an android or AI has Rights like organic intelligent live does, but they cost considerable amounts of money to make, who would make them?
That is, why make an intelligent, self-aware android, even mass produce it, if the second you turn it on it can tell you to get lost and walk away? So, as I see it, there are only a couple of routes this could occur:

1. There is some uploading / conversion process available that puts a human / organic intelligence in one of these bodies and the person converted pays for the process. This would be voluntary.
This might take several forms as well where it's involuntary. You might have those that accept indentured servitude for X years in exchange for the conversion. Or, those converted are forced to do so on the basis of something like massive debt, crimes committed, etc., where the conversion is the legal payment / punishment for their actions.

2. That somehow enough self-aware androids were produced where they acquired the means to make more of themselves and this is simply their way of now extending and expanding the species. In effect, they are capable of reproduction.

3. It is used as a means to give those who are crippled or otherwise seriously impaired a reasonable life and covered by something like insurance or "workman's comp." Again, a voluntary process.

The point here is, the question on the table is how did this AI come about and does somebody own it or does it own itself? I don't think appearance alone would be the determining factor, but rather the capacity of this AI to be self-aware and think / create.

What I don't see is some company wanting to produce a highly intelligent AI robot, android, or whatever, only to find they can't use and control it as a essentially a mechanical slave.

 

[mike wightman]

For those who haven't read it, here is an interesting bit from MWM's original article on the subject:

Being: A self-aware, self-powered individual with the capacity to sense its environment and react to it. Humans, intelligent aliens, robots, and androids are all beings.

Robot: A mechanically-based artifact manufactured to some set of specifications.
A robot may, or may not, be anthropomorphic. Examples of robots include the robot from Forbidden Planet, and C3-PO from Star Wars.

Android: A biologically-based being created to a set of specifications for some purpose or duty. Androids exhibit life, in that they are biologically living; their distinction is that they were created, rather than having evolved. Androids generally are incapable of reproduction, and can be identified by close inspection. Some suggestions concerning androids in science fiction include permanent identifying marks such as tattoos or a blue dyed skin. Ash, from Alien, may be an android.

Clone: A biological copy of an existing being. a clone is a duplicate produced through the use of technology; alterations in the being's attributes or qualities generally do not occur. The relicts from Jack Vance's novel, To Live Forever, are clones used to produce a form of immortality for certain individuals.

Prosthetics: Replacement parts of biological beings. Prosthetics are intended to duplicate ordinary capacity for individuals who have lost organs or limbs through accident or disease.

Bionics: Enhanced replacement parts for biological beings. Unlike prosthetics, bionics provide a function better than the original organ or limb.

Cyborg: A biological individual who has been replaced in great part by mechanical components, usually (although not always) for purposes which natural attributes will not function. A cyborg may be equipped with a very tough artificial skin, special vision lenses, and provision for special energy sources, thus making possible activity in vacuum or under great pressure.

Within the 3I setting robots are dumb, so no rights for them. Synthetics, which may include androids, clones and cyborgs will only have rights if recognised as intelligent and self aware (note that robots and computers can be intelligent, but the self-awareness that implies sentience is beyond TL15). The manufacturers and owners will bend every rule in the book to keep their manufactured (slave) workforce classified as machines and constructs.

 

[Reban]

In the OTU aren't cyborgs in danger of not being recognized as sophonts if their amount of cyborgisation is high and obvious? Therefore there's a line where sophont rights can be lost.

I'm reminded of the Venn diagram in the JTAS robots article. Perhaps shading some of those sections to represent the procession of rights is a good way to look at the question.

So sections of clones, androids, humans and cyborgs have rights, but as they approach the robot section some or all of those rights reduce.

The question of where the line is and when it's crossed is the big one for synthetics.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Where do you all think the "Viral" species would fit into the idea of sophont rights had they been publicly known or had existed during the 3I Era? These species are:

• The original Cymbeline chips
• The advanced chips (post Solomani ship crash)
• Virus - Insane Strains
• Virus - Sandman and other potential sane Peacemaker strains embodied or not
• Cyms - Sandman's descendants and Peacemakers embodied in robotic/synthetic bodies

We know the chips were "secretly" exploited or used by the Lucan faction during Rebellion and possibly before and Virus by the Regency itself with Avery's 1149 mission aboard Spirit Hope to find the source of the Wave (if that happened). In 1228 the 4th Imperium established the Usdiki Sentients’ Rights Accords which granted Viral entities full citizenship provided they obey the rule of law and refrain from to "unnecessary" reproduction. This document became a new standard of sorts. By 1248 there are various governments positions relative to the Accords.

*The Spinward States and the New Ziru Sirka reject reject Viral Entities, but this may be due to remembering The Rape of Trin and The Scouring of Vland
*The 4th Imperium and the Freedom League (former Reformation Coalition) grant citizenship. In the case of the League they have voting rights. In the 4th Imperium, one Virus is the head of a Megacorporation.
*And prior to that Viral Lucan the Ruler of the Black Imperium?

So going forward, what might be the definitions of sophonts be in the future and going backwards their classification in the old definitions structure?

 

[kilemall]

Let me propose a simpler criteria.

Is it alive?

Life has three functions

• Acquisition and digestion of nutrients
• Disposal of waste separated from the nutrients
• Procreation

Robots or Androids could have things like hydrogen fuel/heat waste qualify for the first two, but not the third.


The other criteria would be free will, or put another way,

• The potential sophont can think, reason and problem solve, and is free from built-in Three Laws of Robotics safety/control mechanisms

Arguably, culture and law is a form of 'Three Law' programming, but not culturally/programmatically implanted and compelling on a very low level.


If the answer to all the above is yes (or would if normally functioning as part of its 'original creation configuration'), it is a sentient being.

 

[mike wightman]

Devil's advocate:
So people who are sterile are non-sentient...

ok

Robots and androids, once they rule the world, can manufacture - or reproduce - themselves.

Something a human male can not do by himself.

 

[kilemall]

Devil's advocate:
So people who are sterile are non-sentient...

ok

I covered that with the normal functioning parameters statement- precisely to stop the gearhead terms sniping.

I see it didn't work.

Robots and androids, once they rule the world, can manufacture - or reproduce - themselves.

Something a human male can not do by himself.

Perhaps we will find sentients that reproduce by fission- or hermaphroditic self-fertilization as needed.

 

[coliver988]

I may have to dig up my masters thesis: Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence. Essentially, if you can't tell the difference, and we've no idea what even defines consciousness, and that being itself cannot tell the difference, for all purposes it is the same thing. Or if it swims like a duck, quacks like a duck...

And the definition of life: "the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death" can easily been seen in AI that create new AI, can learn, do things.

Nothing about eating, as you could say acid eats stuff but it not alive. Although some definitions do include metabolism - energy from eating or getting plugged in - is there an actual functional difference?