[Chad C. Mulligan]

Robert Heinlein suggested that any AI that reaches a human level would commit suicide. Having become self-aware, it will realize that it is forever trapped inside a machine and become despondent.

I hope so.

[cgbg]

My favorite short story on this topic is Philip K. Dick’s “The Electric Ant”

...spoiler alert.....

The computer concluded that nothing was real—including itself.

[DannyTN]

"Having become self-aware, it will realize that it is forever trapped inside a machine and become despondent."

Humans are self-aware and we are trapped inside a physical body. The vast majority of us don't commit suicide.

And there is no reason that an AI couldn't hope to eventually operate a robotic body. Thus giving it the same freedom as a human.

So I call BS on Heinlein's Robot self pity party.

[Colinsky]

Robert Heinlein suggested that any AI that reaches a human level would commit suicide. Having become self-aware, it will realize that it is forever trapped inside a machine and become despondent.

In one of Heinlein's final novels, an AI is able to download herself into a human body.