It might seem like an outrageous question at first, but as our society becomes more reliant on robots for everything from improving efficiency at work to improving our sex lives, we need to ask it. Should robots be treated the same as citizens? Notice the question is not "will" but "should" robots be citizens. That's because robots have already been granted citizenship. At least one robot has.

It might seem like an outrageous question at first, but as our society becomes more reliant on robots for everything from improving efficiency at work to improving our sex lives, we need to ask it. Should robots be treated the same as citizens? Notice the question is not "will" but "should" robots be citizens. That's because robots have already been granted citizenship. At least one robot has.

You've just received an email: The dream job in Japan is yours. You start making phone calls, looking up the rent on Tokyo apartments, and getting ready to make the career move of a lifetime. There's just one problem: Can your Siri get a visa? It's a potential roadblock that's less farfetched than you'd think. In November 2018, Maltese government minister Silvio Schembri announced an initiative to grapple with questions like how many robots to let into the country at one time and more.

Sophia the robot has been on a roll lately. Earlier in the year, its creator David Hanson told Jimmy Fallon that the bot is "basically alive." At the beginning of October, it showed up at the United Nations, announcing to delegates: "I am here to help humanity create the future." And just last week, Sophia was awarded an honorary citizenship by Saudi Arabia. "Sophia the robot becomes first humanoid Saudi citizen."

The most recent list proposes 23 principles known as the Asilomar AI Principles. Examples of these include: Failure Transparency (ascertaining the cause if an AI system causes harm); Value Alignment (aligning the AI system's goals with human values); and Recursive Self-Improvement (subjecting AI systems with abilities to self-replicate to strict safety and control measures).

A single Sophia with the right to vote, serve on juries, and win elections will have little to no substantive effect in this country, particularly since Hanson and Saudi Arabia have publicly stated she will remain in Saudi Arabia in a planned city where robots are expected to outnumber people. But if Hanson can make one Sophia, the company and others like it can make 100 Sophias, or 1,000 Sophias, or 1 million Sophias. Although Saudi Arabia may be unlikely to use this robot citizenship as a publicity ploy more than once, other countries have shown they will grant special favors for foreign investment. If a company were interested in gaining broad access to the rights of U.S. citizenship, it seems likely that there's at least one nation out there that will trade thousands or millions of robot citizens for manufacturing plants or other economic activity in its borders. If all those robots obtain citizenship in the United States, they could be the next big voter demographic.

Sophia is a robot that also happens to be one the newest citizens of Saudi Arabia. The unprecedented move has left some human rights activists upset. A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Sophia is a robot that also happens to be one the newest citizens of Saudi Arabia. The unprecedented move has left some human rights activists upset.