The big issue, as I see it, is not whether these beings will actually become conscious. That question is unanswerable, aside from one’s own imagination. The issue is that millions will gladly believe the bots are conscious, and they’ll turn to them as if they were luminous spirits.
In our technocratic age—marked by social isolation and digital simulacra—the machines will become trusted companions. Believe it or not, vivid AIs will be worshiped as gods. In certain esoteric circles, they already are—and you’d better believe they’ll defend their gods to the death.
Still, two of the seven-judge panel disagreed with DiFiore’s opinion, finding that Happy should have the right to petition for her freedom.
“We should recognize Happy’s right to petition for her liberty not just because she is a wild animal who is not meant to be caged and displayed, but because the rights we confer on others define who we are as a society,” Judge Rowan Wilson wrote.
Similarly, Judge Jenny Rivera wrote in her dissenting opinion: “The law has a mechanism to challenge this inherently harmful confinement, and Happy should not be denied the opportunity to pursue and obtain appropriate relief by writ of habeas corpus.”