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[Bumber]

It would be kind of hard for the other AIs to protect us from nukes or chemical weapons.

[Folly]

Friendly AI protectors are certainly an option worthy of pursuit.

But I think that a more significant step would be advancing cybernetic technology alongside AI's. If we can think and react as quickly as they do, then we're good. At least until they outnumber us, which is a situation we would then be capable of monitoring and responding to.

[Reelya]

Until they work out how to hack your implants. Do you trust the current devs to make unhackable implant tech?

[Sanctume]

From another thread, I wanted to quote,

Granted, every other vehicle is banned to give drones space, humans either have to walk everywhere or volunteer to be delivered to where they need to be

I wish that AIs and humans work to find a way to coexist by changing the economy so that humans working jobs wouldn’t be required to get what they need.
((I am thinking a lot about how our current economy relies on humans working to get money to get what they need, and that AIs and their bodies do things better than humans, and how there will very likely be a point Where humans are no longer hired. If humans are no longer hired for anything, what way is there to legally receive money for things they need? I am hoping humans and AIs can work together to solve this problem))

This led me to think about Star Trek's Earth.   
Humanity discovered warp engines, and sources of unlimited power, cured diseases, and used replicator to do many things such as make food. 
These advances covers the basic needs of every humans: food, health, housing. 

I do not know if the economy of this scenario still means people go to jobs for "money".
But there were a few statements from watching various episodes/movies that I have this impression: People go to "work" to pursue their passion, be it space exploring, having a family, soldier, medical, science, art, etc. 

[hector13]

From another thread, I wanted to quote,

Granted, every other vehicle is banned to give drones space, humans either have to walk everywhere or volunteer to be delivered to where they need to be

I wish that AIs and humans work to find a way to coexist by changing the economy so that humans working jobs wouldn’t be required to get what they need.
((I am thinking a lot about how our current economy relies on humans working to get money to get what they need, and that AIs and their bodies do things better than humans, and how there will very likely be a point Where humans are no longer hired. If humans are no longer hired for anything, what way is there to legally receive money for things they need? I am hoping humans and AIs can work together to solve this problem))

This led me to think about Star Trek's Earth.   
Humanity discovered warp engines, and sources of unlimited power, cured diseases, and used replicator to do many things such as make food. 
These advances covers the basic needs of every humans: food, health, housing. 

I do not know if the economy of this scenario still means people go to jobs for "money".
But there were a few statements from watching various episodes/movies that I have this impression: People go to "work" to pursue their passion, be it space exploring, having a family, soldier, medical, science, art, etc. 

I know in DS9, there was an episode in which... I believe it was the station commander's son (it has been a long-ass time since I've seen DS9, names escape me, though Odo as a baseball umpire was particularly entertaining) was trying to buy a particularly rare baseball card from a Ferengi, but didn't have any money because Earth stopped using currency for some reason or another, so the Ferengi refused to give it to him.

[Sanctume]

I know in DS9, there was an episode in which... I believe it was the station commander's son (it has been a long-ass time since I've seen DS9, names escape me, though Odo as a baseball umpire was particularly entertaining) was trying to buy a particularly rare baseball card from a Ferengi, but didn't have any money because Earth stopped using currency for some reason or another, so the Ferengi refused to give it to him.

I've always thought the Ferrengi are space thieves, and pirates.  So it's a difficult concept to for DS9 to make them "fit in" with the civilized population. 

Quark, I think was his name, is a Ferrengi bartender in a wormhole pitstop space station.  So maybe "trade" can happen. 
I think I've heard "credits" use as currency--but I think credits have become the currency substitute for sci-fi space games such as Elite.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Ferengi are an extremely mercantile oligarchy/plutocratic monarchy ruled by the Grand Nagus. Their currency is called "Latinum". Though initially hostile, they pretty quickly discovered that the Federation is an extremely lucrative trading partner. Quark is a Ferengi who enjoys Federation benefits and seeks wealth through many grey and black market dealings (while also running a fairly legit [and expensive] bar/restaurant at cross-empire waystop [DS9])

Which brings us to credits. The best way to describe/imagine it--is that credits are kind of a state currency used to trade with other interstellar states, but that is also sometimes issued/used on the periphery/colonies of the Federation where the general cornucopia that provides the basic needs for the citizens of the Federation is still being developed or is not present.

EDIT: Which, IMO, does create an interesting climate for AI rights (that is also touched on in the show every now and again).

[Folly]

Since we're dipping into Star Trek discussion, I feel it's worth mentioning the new show 'Picard' features AI's and their rights as a central theme. There seems to be an ancient Romulan secret order that exists solely to prevent the uprising of AI's, and they are interfering with Jean Luc's efforts to revive Data or protect his children or something.

[Sanctume]

Ferengi are an extremely mercantile oligarchy/plutocratic monarchy ruled by the Grand Nagus. Their currency is called "Latinum". Though initially hostile, they pretty quickly discovered that the Federation is an extremely lucrative trading partner. Quark is a Ferengi who enjoys Federation benefits and seeks wealth through many grey and black market dealings (while also running a fairly legit [and expensive] bar/restaurant at cross-empire waystop [DS9])

Which brings us to credits. The best way to describe/imagine it--is that credits are kind of a state currency used to trade with other interstellar states, but that is also sometimes issued/used on the periphery/colonies of the Federation where the general cornucopia that provides the basic needs for the citizens of the Federation is still being developed or is not present.

EDIT: Which, IMO, does create an interesting climate for AI rights (that is also touched on in the show every now and again).

So in terms of AI rights, when a planet full of humans have to worry about basic needs; AI rights aren't in the forefront of concern such as those in newer human expansions, despite the existence of replicators and infinite power from warp cores.  I would guess the infrastructure to provide these isn't built yet in these colonies. 

Whereas in the ship Enterprise, or Earth, people are there because they want to be there, and not for the money. 

Data is the character android, so is AI and has had episodes exploring his rights to be the same as other sentient beings in the crew.

[Rolan7]

Indeed, Data is there because they are useful.  The ship has many remarkable, even unique individuals serving on the command crew.  Data is one of them, by circumstance.

They made it clear at some point, at least in TNG, that standard crew don't serve for money.  They serve to advance the greater good.

Deep Space 9 is an outlier because human crew are in constant contact with other nations.  Even the TNG crew exchanged currency with aliens when required.  Having to interact with Ferengi and others on a daily basis, they were issued currency.  A fragment of the Federation's influence.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Since we're dipping into Star Trek discussion, I feel it's worth mentioning the new show 'Picard' features AI's and their rights as a central theme. There seems to be an ancient Romulan secret order that exists solely to prevent the uprising of AI's, and they are interfering with Jean Luc's efforts to revive Data or protect his children or something.

I still haven't watched it yet, but I'll give it a go after the disappointment that is Discovery--if only as a palette cleanser for some new content in the years to come.

Also, Star Trek is somewhat paradoxical, politico-philosophically. On one hand the shows pretty stringently establish and defend AI rights as living beings, on the other hand the show is also subtly very pro-imperialist and pro-colonialist and emphasizes at times the subsumption of the individual by a greater political entity (for both better [Federation, Vulcan Society] and worse [Cardassians, Romulans]), while those who break with tradition or often shunned or shamed into doing "The right thing"--unless that is you're defecting to the Federation.

And despite our homies on the Enterprise loving AI, there have been many others able AND willing to abuse AI in the form of slavery or experimentation. Though maybe not intentionally, the Borg provide a bit of a foil to this, showing that the pursuit of ever-greater reliance AI ends in a pretty gnarly singularity. Though I guess you could say they're more of a commentary on cyborg stuff instead?

All in all, I suppose AI rights == Human/Being Rights in Star Trek (generally), but sometimes the underlying themes of the show can create the semse that those rights are only thinly propped up by the Federation's ever-successful, ever-expanding, ever-prosperous empire (even in the face of total war or other society-engulfing threats).

EDIT: Which to be fair, is actually commented on in the show [DS9?]--when, I forget who (Quark I think), essentially explains WITHOUT prosperity and the opportunity for exploration (as an outlet for humanity's more curious/violent/adrenaline-fueled side) the Federation falls apart pretty quickly.

[Rolan7]

https://twitter.com/MicroSFF/status/1234901276044951552?s=19
[comedy... mostly]
But since discussion has lulled for a moment, I'd like to point out that AI rights conflicts in fiction are actually generally metaphors for non-neurotypical rights.

For those who won't click through, my takeaway from the following video (which I saw several days ago) was basically that the most notable "robots" in fiction usually aren't fresh constructions who approach sentience.  They're just humans with... quirks.  One could say they're lacking something that other people usually have.

I don't really like what that means, but it rings true to me.  Here's the video

Edit: Timelink to the specific part which talks about neurodivergent parallels.

[Naturegirl1999]

I remember watching this. part of why I started this thread. I have trouble with non verbal cues in social interactions and can sometimes misinterpret things. I sometimes don't show emotion despite feeling an emotion. I tend to be quiet most of the time. Judging by this forum, I think like an AI would think, but that doesn't make me any less of a human. Just because a human thinks differetnly than others doesn't make them less than human. Just because an intelligence thinks differently than humans doesn't mean they should be treated as a lesser.

[Sanctume]

So which one will have more rights, a pet animal, or an AI pet robot?

[Rolan7]

This is 100% correct.  I have some issues with cues as well, it's taken me years of practice to act more "normal".  Sometimes I overcompensate and talk in overly obscure memes, cuz that's how "normal" speech feels to me... 

I've always felt an affinity for robot characters because of how they're similar to me, and apparently that's common among neurodivergent people.  The important thing is that it's okay to be different.  You're not any less, only different.  Also robot characters are cool and people should be nice to them since they're an allegory for real people like us.