Human rights for robots? A literature review

Abstract

This literature review of the most prominent academic and non-academic publications in the last 10 years on the question of whether intelligent robots should be entitled to human rights is the first review of its kind in the academic context. We review three challenging academic contributions and six non-academic but important popular texts in blogs, magazines, and newspapers which are also frequently cited in academia. One of the main findings is that several authors base their critical views (i.e. views against recognizing human rights for robots) on misleading ethical and philosophical assumptions and hence offer flawed arguments regarding the moral and legal status of artificial intelligent robots and their possible claims to human rights. Our analysis sheds light on some of the complex and challenging issues related to the crucial question of whether intelligent robots with human-like capabilities are eventually entitled to human rights (or not).