The goal of this class is to address the question “could a machine ever be a person, and what would the consequences be if the answer is yes?”. We will begin by examining competing accounts of personhood and how they have evolved with emerging technologies. We will then explore the rapidly advancing world of artificial intelligence, and try to determine if an artificial person is possible or likely, and whether we could know when a machine becomes a person. Finally, we will work through some of the moral and social ramifications of artificial personhood. Along the way, we will address related questions like:
Is the brain just a machine?
Do human persons even exist?
Why does personhood matter so much?
Do we have an obligation to limit/pursue artificial intelligence?