Source Sheet, #1
Sana Masud
Professor Dempster
UNIV 112
21 October 2014
Research Question What is artificial intelligence? Is the creation of artificial intelligence
ethical?
MLA Citation: Ashrafian, Hutan. "Intelligent Robots Must Uphold Human Rights."
Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Background: Hutan Ashrafian is a Clinical Lecturer in Surgery He works in the clinical
and mechanistic studies of metabolic bariatric surgery, complex biostatistical models,
networks and evidence synthesis to guide policy decisions, computational physiology and
systems medicine, novel health technology assessment and diagnostic accuracy of
biomarkers, robotics and artificial intelligence agents in healthcare, ancient history
analytics, academic impact & leadership metrics and regenerative strategies including
sports-based and bio-inspired bionic therapies.
Main Claim: There must be a standard of humanity that AI and robots are expected to
uphold.
Sub Claims:
1. There is a strong possibility of robots having sentient thought in the not too
distant future.
2. Robot interaction with each other must be considered
3. Forcing AIs and robots into conflict or mistreating them would be detrimental to
humanity
4. Social scientists and philosophers should be linked to cutting edge robotics and
computer research.
5. National and international technological policies should introduce AIonAI
concepts into current programs aimed at developing safe AIs.
Evidence:
1. Military Robots are already being deployed in conflict areas.
2. Three Laws of Robotics devised by science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov
a. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a
human being to come to harm.
b. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such
orders would conflict with the First Law.
c. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not
conflict with either the First or Second Law.
3. Animals that exhibit thinking behavior are already afforded rights and protection,
and civilized society shows contempt for animal fights that are set up for human
entertainment.
Source Sheet, #1
4. There is a set of principles that robot designers must follow in order to avoid
conflict. These principles are created by the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council.
5. Engineering and Physical Science Research Council and the Arts and Humanities
Research Council have already introduced a set of principles that designers must
follow in order to create a “safe” robot.
Quotations & Responses:
 “Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Arts and
Humanities Research Council have already introduced a set of principles for robot
designers. These reinforce the position that robots are manufactured products, so
that “humans, not robots, are responsible agents”. (Nature, 519)This means the
gravity of creating artificial intelligence is being taken into consideration in the
design stage.
 “Do not underestimate the likelihood of artificial thinking machines. Humankind
is arriving at the horizon of the birth of a new intelligent race.” (Nature, 519) This
quote speaks to the desperation Hutan has for this issue to be taken seriously.
 “It would be unreasonable for a robot to uphold human rights and yet ignore the
rights of another sentient thinking machine.” (Nature, 519) This quote speaks to
the complexity of AI. It also comes across as a succinct point that addresses the
fact that if robots were given intelligence, they become humans in a way and are
valid creatures that deserve their own rights and rules. This quote also begins to
speak to the importance that robotic conflicts are avoided.
 “Animals that exhibit thinking behavior are already afforded rights and
protection, and civilized society shows contempt for animal fights that are set up
for human entertainment. It follows that sentient machines that are potentially
much more intelligent than animals should not be made to fight for entertainment.
It follows that sentient machines that are potentially much more intelligent than
animals should not be made to fight for entertainment.” (Nature, 519) This proves
an indisputable point that animals, who, in theory, function at a lower intelligence
level, are given rights, so when artificial intelligence is created, a similar outline
of rights should be given.
Questions & Conclusions: This source gives me an argument for implementing a system
or guidelines for robotic ethics in order to ensure we avoid conflict between AIs.
Asharfian argues that this is the most important element to consider when developing AIs
as internal conflict among the robots may be more difficult to resolve.