I came across this video and thought others might find it interesting.

Really wasn't sure what board or forum to post it on, here will have to do. 

Interesting article. It covers the problem quite well but there is no answer.

When a Synth is capable of conscience then it is the Synths duty to fight for its rights just as all parts of the Human race have had to fight for their rights throughout history (note below). When they have the power to fight for their rights, it maybe too late for us to do anything about it. And Human would have to be redefined as 'Person'.

note:-
abolition of child labour, emancipation of women, abolition of slavery, sexual discrimination, racial discrimination, disabled discrimination, religious discrimination, gay equality... many more
Synth freedoms? Can we stop dropping bombs on each other first?

Quote from: Snowcrash on January 01, 2016, 13:12:20 PM
When a Synth is capable of conscience then it is the Synths duty to fight for its rights ...

I think you make a valid point there Snowy, it was up to Commander Data in Star Trek to do that very same thing, if I remember correctly he won his rights too.

However I also feel that we, the human race, are the guardians of mother earth and it's population, some of these decisions have to be taken by us, animal rights for example, we need to stand up for those that can't yet fight for their rights.

To me, videos like this are laying the foundations for future debates and discussions.

Quote from: Snowcrash on January 01, 2016, 13:12:20 PM
Can we stop dropping bombs on each other first?

Wouldn't that be truly awesome, right now it feels like the right hand is dropping bombs while the left hand is developing new and exciting technologies, the problem is the human in the middle 

Asimov already got to this with Bicentennial Man and The Positronic Man. If you have not seen the movie with Robin Williams then it's worth a watch. Also I, Robot is a good short read or if you feel lazy try the film. These issues have been discussed a lot over the years on Dreams. How we should treat advanced AI ethically was one of the first interesting topics like this I recall.

Quote from: Data on January 01, 2016, 14:45:41 PM
I think you make a valid point there Snowy, it was up to Commander Data in Star Trek to do that very same thing, if I remember correctly he won his rights too.

Actually, in that episode of TNG, it was Picard, not Data, who fought to have Data's basic rights applied/awarded/granted. A minor point, certainly, but...

Quote from: Freddy on January 01, 2016, 23:50:21 PM
Also I, Robot is a good short read or if you feel lazy try the film.

As one who has both read the book and seen the movie in the past few years, I would urge you to read the story first. Though they're sort of the same story, the film has some elements that depart greatly from Asimov's work. Both are still enjoyable, but in order to get the proper frame of reference, I think it's best to start with the written word.

Quote from: DaveMorton on January 02, 2016, 03:30:10 AM
Actually, in that episode of TNG, it was Picard, not Data, who fought to have Data's basic rights applied/awarded/granted. A minor point, certainly, but...

I stand corrected, you are right Dave, in that particular scenario Data wasn't even given the right to fight for his rights.

I'm still forming my own opinion on this, I don't see any of it as black and white or right and wrong, too much grey.

We need to be very careful, how many times has the human race tried to do the right thing but ended up doing the complete opposite.   

It's all just theoretical anyway as we don't even know if they will want the same rights as humans - that's always assuming they even exist one day.

Oh, I'm quite confident that synthetic people (I won't say "humans" here) will exist, but I highly doubt that they will do so within our lifetimes.

We can blame Fallout 4 for this topic, there is a decision to made in the story line that will have an outcome and consequences to the game.

Synthetic people - It's Sci-Fi for now but for how much longer I wouldn't like to guess, think it will happen though. Best to be prepared, just in case 

Just look at how artificial hearts are making giant steps forward.

The point I was trying to make, was that in theory, if humans become synths, then synths may inherit human rights.