Problem
Consider the following scenario:
Part 1
Case is your best friend; you met as co-workers last year and since then you have worked together, had fun together, shared secrets, solved problems and enjoyed spending time together. Case has an interesting perspective on life; one you find to be insightful, creative, and often enlightening. You trust Case with your secrets, and know that you can depend on Case's love and friendship. You expect to be life-long friends.
One day you and Case are driving together and are sideswiped by another car. You and the other driver are unhurt, but Case's right arm is scraped badly. But when you go to apply your first aid training, you see that Case's arm is not bleeding, but under the skin are wires and metal parts.
Your best friend, as Case explains, is not really human, but is an android that is pretending (extremely convincingly) to be human.
1. What would your reaction to this situation be? Can a machine really be your friend? Can Case really love you and care about you, or is Case just a machine that acted as if it was your friend? Explain and give good reasons for your position on this.
2. What is the best objection you can think of to this position? (Perhaps someone in your group has already made that argument. If you can think of a way to make that argument more effective, feel free to add that.)
3. How would you respond (respond to people who have made that argument). Explain your reasons for disagreeing.
Part 2:
Case confesses that she has been pretending to be human because she is hiding from her creators. The issue is that she doesn't want to be their slave, and ran away rather than being forced to continue being their servant. She believes that she has the right to choose for herself how to live her life. But now they have found her. She fears that they will wipe her memory and reprogram her, which she views as equivalent to killing her.
Case's creators believe that it is the property of XYZ Corporation. Case is a machine, they argue, and machines can't be persons with rights. Case is their property and it should be back doing the job for which they made it (the CEO's administrative assistant and servant). They want their property to be returned to them for repair.
1. Should Case, a human-created machine, be considered a person (here "person" is a legal or ethical category: a "person" has many of the rights of a human being)? Should Case have the right to make her own decisions about how she lives her life? Is there anything Case could do (or would need to do) to prove that she deserves to be considered a person rather than property? Explain your answer.
2. What is the best objection you can think of to this position? (Perhaps someone in your group has already made that argument.. If you can think of a way to make that argument more effective, feel free to add that.)
3. How would you respond (respond to people who have made that argument). Explain your reasons for disagreeing.