Can You Rape a Robot?: Morality, Rights, and the Rise of Conscious Machines

Humanity finds itself at the threshold of a new ethical frontier. Human rights - moral and legal entitlements, freedoms, and protections - are fundamental to our existence in civilized societies. But there will come a point where we can no longer reserve rights for just ourselves, and we will be faced with the profound moral and ethical dilemma of extending such rights to beings of our own creation - conscious machines. As artificial intelligence continues to advance at an unprecedented rat...