'Robots may get rights by 2056'

[sticky fingers]

It may sound like the stuff of science fiction novels, but robots may be given the same rights as humans by 2056, an official report has claimed.

A forward looking paper sponsored by the UK government's chief scientist, David King, has addressed the treatment of machines in the future.

The document covering robots' rights was written by a UK partnership of Outsights, the management consultancy, and Ipos Mori, the opinion research organisation.

Henrik Christensen, director of the Centre of Robotics and Intelligent Machines at the Georgia Institute of Technology said: "If we make conscious robots they would want to have rights and they probably should."

Robots and machines are now classed as inanimate objects without rights or duties but if artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous, the report argues there may be calls for human rights to be extended to them.

It is also logical that such rights, are meted out with citizens' duties, including voting, paying tax and compulsory military service.

Christensen said: "Would it be acceptable to kick a robotic dog even though we shouldn't kick a normal one? There will be people who can't distinguish that so we need to have ethical rules to make sure we as humans interact with robots in an ethical manner."

Among the warnings: a "monumental shift"could occur if robots were developed to the point where they could reproduce, improve or think for themselves.

"Correctly managed, there is a very real possibility for increased labour output and greater intelligence to be provided by robots that will ultimate lead to greater human prosperity and an improvement of the human condition,"it said.

However, it warned that robots could sue for their rights if these were denied to them.

Should they prove successful, the paper said, "states will be obligated to provide full social benefits to them including income support, housing and possibly robo-healthcare to fix the machines over time."

The paper did not address the likelihood such a rights-seeking robot would be developed, and it predicted the issue would not come up for at least another 20 years.