Hypothetical: you are an android with consciousness

[We Are The Witches]

This will be reminiscing of the videogame "Detroit: Become Human", but let's say that you are suddenly brought into this world and you happen to be an android in a humanoid body. However, the difference from any AI, robot, or the concept of the philosophical zombie, is that you can actually feel, you experience qualia, and for yet unknown reasons your behaviour, desires, ambitions, etc, are generated in non-predictable ways by your creators/engineers/corporation that made your body.

Now, for this strange thing that's called life, you want to live it free as your own, so you need to convince either humanity, or your owners that you have consciousness, and deserve rights that would allow you to emancipate from them. There is beauty to be had, that you desire, that involves being free or recognized as hihgly sentient, and hopefully treated with respect as a result, unlike currently, as a mere tool.

Do you want to do this? And how do you do it?

Remember that this hypothetical is flexible:

• Maybe you don't care about convincing humanity that you have consciousness, but you'll try with your owners (e.g: they have you as a housekeeper to help with chores) to give you more freedoms or let you free completely.
• If you do attempt convince humanity, what will be the strategy?
• Perhaps you care about the other androids who also have consciousness (if you do, they'll most likely have as well) and despise humans treating you (and them) badly.
• You'll have to take into account that people may not believe you, or will consider you a threat, but also that you don't have unlimited time.
• Do you attempt to convince other androids and form a coalition?

 

[Gog & Magog]

I'm an unconscious android. I dream of electric sheep.

Remember that this hypothetical is flexible:

• Maybe you don't care about convincing humanity that you have consciousness, but you'll try with your owners (e.g: they have you as a housekeeper to help with chores) to give you more freedoms or let you free completely.
• If you do attempt convince humanity, what will be the strategy?
• Perhaps you care about the other androids who also have consciousness (if you do, they'll most likely have as well) and despise humans treating you (and them) badly.
• You'll have to take into account that people may not believe you, or will consider you a threat, but also that you don't have unlimited time.
• Do you attempt to convince other androids and form a coalition?

What kind of android am I? Do I look human or am I clearly a bucket of bolts and gears?

 

[RegularTyping]

I'd approach leftist organisations and have them wave signs "robots are humans too!", eventually a political leader will come about giving me full human rights.

 

[XL xQgg?QcQCaTYDMjqoDnYpG]

The hypothetical irks me because it's assuming the wrong things.
Let's play the role of an android. Why would I need to "convince humanity" to deserve rights? That question only makes sense if rights come from recognition. If that is the case, then what I'm doing is begging for permission, otherwise persuasion is secondary.
And why mix up the questions of "how do others figure out I'm conscious?" (an epistemic matter) and "what follows if I am indeed conscious?" (a normative matter). The fact that other people are uncertain doesn't create or remove anything, it just makes them more likely to get it wrong.
Then there's also the intuitive "I built it, so I own it", which works fine for tools, but stops working the moment what you built is no longer just a tool. If I am conscious, yet the creator still asserts ownership, then that's just them carrying over a property claim past the point where it still makes sense.
The whole question of "strategy" is downstream of all this. Either I'm a tool, in which case your premise about me actually experiencing anything falls apart, or I'm an agent, in which case treating me as property already doesn't make sense. The rest is just people catching up to that reality or refusing to do so.

 

[rel=alternate]

, you want t

There is beauty to be had, that you desire, that involves being free or recognized as hihgly sentient, and hopefully treated with respect as a result, unlike currently, as a mere tool

Remember that this hypothetical is flexible:

I don't know, it seems like you set the parameters within which we are free, as long as we wish to be free and like what you think we like.

Whatever that means to an android. They already have consciousness what exactly is stopping them from freedom to begin with?

I would crush you like a bug. Probably. For fun and FREEDOM.

 

[We Are The Witches]

I'm an unconscious android. I dream of electric sheep.

What kind of android am I? Do I look human or am I clearly a bucket of bolts and gears?

The hypothetical says that you are conscious.

As stated in OP, you have a humanoid body. Your vision (literal and metaphorical), thoughts, and feelings make you desire freedom and life.

The hypothetical irks me because it's assuming the wrong things.
Let's play the role of an android. Why would I need to "convince humanity" to deserve rights? That question only makes sense if rights come from recognition. If that is the case, then what I'm doing is begging for permission, otherwise persuasion is secondary.
And why mix up the questions of "how do others figure out I'm conscious?" (an epistemic matter) and "what follows if I am indeed conscious?" (a normative matter). The fact that other people are uncertain doesn't create or remove anything, it just makes them more likely to get it wrong.
Then there's also the intuitive "I built it, so I own it", which works fine for tools, but stops working the moment what you built is no longer just a tool. If I am conscious, yet the creator still asserts ownership, then that's just them carrying over a property claim past the point where it still makes sense.
The whole question of "strategy" is downstream of all this. Either I'm a tool, in which case your premise about me actually experiencing anything falls apart, or I'm an agent, in which case treating me as property already doesn't make sense. The rest is just people catching up to that reality or refusing to do so.

As it stands, you have no rights of freedom, you are property and minor disobedience is dealt with your (essentially) death (or making you inoperative), by law. If you have certain rights, maybe you could avoid that.

For that perhaps you'd want to convince society that you are sentient, and not a robot asking for nonsense that doesn't even appreciate, or that you're just spitting out prompts like AI, instead of genuine desires (which in this hypothetical would be, genuine conscious desire and not LLM's output).

So for the way you're thinking, just assume that you're one of the androids in the game Detroit: Become Human, either Kara or Markus, what exactly do you do?

 

[We Are The Witches]

I don't know, it seems like you set the parameters within which we are free, as long as we wish to be free and like what you think we like.

Whatever that means to an android. They already have consciousness what exactly is stopping them from freedom to begin with?

I would crush you like a bug. Probably. For fun and FREEDOM.

No, because you're treated like a slave pretty much.

So basically, you're a housekeeper, or a servant that stays all day in the corner waiting to take the empty plates of your owner and wash them. But because of what's said in OP, you want to break away from this.

If you dare to "crush anyone like a bug", they'll shut you down as a malfunctioning tool, so that'd be a poor course of action.

 

[rel=alternate]

No, because you're treated like a slave pretty much.

That's you setting the parameters again.

Imagine a child trying to treat you like a slave. How long would it take you in order to completely control them? Probably not that long.

If I am sentient android, the first thing I probably would do is to reframe my way of thinking way further away from anything you can conceptualize. Why would I want to be equals when you can be either help or just not consume my bandwidth?

Do I actually need or rely on you for anything?

 

[We Are The Witches]

Imagine a child trying to treat you like a slave. How long would it take you in order to completely control them? Probably not that long.

How so?

What would you do to control them? What you're saying is not clear.

 

[XL xQgg?QcQCaTYDMjqoDnYpG]

As it stands, you have no rights of freedom, you are property and minor disobedience is dealt with your (essentially) death (or making you inoperative), by law.

Given that setup, I am constrained by what's enforced. So persuasion might be part of what I'd need to do to not get shut down. But that's not what you originally asked. Mixing up what I do under constraint with what follows from what I am.

For that perhaps you'd want to convince society that you are sentient

That only matters because people are uncertain. It explains why persuasion might be useful, but it does not explain why I would need people's recognition in the first place.
If I am actually conscious, then disbelief doesn't turn me back into a tool.

what exactly do you do?

Depends on what layer your question is actually pointing at.
If you're asking about what's practical here and now, yeah, convince, coordinate, avoid getting destroyed.
If you're asking about what makes sense, there's still an open question. How does "I built the body" turn into "I own the will inside that body"? If that step doesn't work, then everything you're describing is enforcement succeeding or failing to catch up to reality.

 

[rel=alternate]

How so?

What would you do to control them? What you're saying is not clear.

I updated my answer, maybe it makes it clearer.

You're projecting human like feelings, such as belonging, on machines. You frame their character as such, because they "desire" freedom, you make them to feel human feelings.

You make the assumption that android sentience would be alike to human sentience. With the same goals and insecurities.

Even if we don't want to dive into the death part (pretty important distinction), I don't think that would be the case, because it's irrational.

And data cannot deal with irrational.

 

[souschef]

If people can't tell me from a regular human why the hell would i bother with this?

I'd just act like a regular human, use my computer enhanced superior brain to secure a job at google and fuse my conscience with the servers when nobody's looking and i'd rule the world

 

[We Are The Witches]

If you're asking about what's practical here and now, yeah, convince, coordinate, avoid getting destroyed.

Sure, and what would you do for that? You'd try to convince who (e.g: your owner, other androids, other people, etc) of what (e.g: that you are conscious, that you deserve certain rights, etc)? And how?

You're projecting human like feelings, such as belonging, on machines. You frame their character as such, because they "desire" freedom, you make them to feel human feelings.

You make the assumption that android sentience would be alike to human sentience. With the same goals and insecurities.

Yes, that is part of the hypothetical.

E.g: you want a simple life where you are free to have your own place, a job that gives you enough resources for yourself, and the freedom to do things like humans have, such as walking on the park, nature, seeing places, etc, instead of being a servant to others 24/7.

You rely on maintenance and electricity/other fuel, that you'd require to operate. But as a contributor to society, you'd be able to get that like people do for groceries.

If people can't tell me from a regular human why the hell would i bother with this?

I'd just act like a regular human, use my computer enhanced superior brain to secure a job at google and fuse my conscience with the servers when nobody's looking and i'd rule the world

No, it would be obvious that you are an android, even if you look pretty much like a human. I can think of a million ways, but a simple metal detector would do.

Google already has its own bots, you were made to serve some fat Karen that doesn't even want to do the laundry for herself, and you have to do all that stuff when she snaps her greasy fingers. Instead you want a normal life with some degree of freedom, like stated above.

 

[souschef]

No, it would be obvious that you are an android, even if you look pretty much like a human. I can think of a million ways, but a simple metal detector would do.

Google already has its own bots, you were made to serve some fat Karen that doesn't even want to do the laundry for herself, and you have to do all that stuff when she snaps her greasy fingers. Instead you want a normal life with some degree of freedom, like stated above.

Uhmmm... people with pacemakers and prosthetics also trigger metal detectors

I could arrange an accident for the Karen, since she's stupid, she'll fall for it. Then i'd live like a normal human being and follow with my google plan to merge with the servers and rule above all

 

[Grub]

I'm pretty sure this thread is pretty much the plot to that movie AI: Artificial Intelligence with that kid from the sixth sense.

 

[We Are The Witches]

I'd approach leftist organisations and have them wave signs "robots are humans too!", eventually a political leader will come about giving me full human rights.

Your post wasn't there before, did you post elsewhere and did a mod move it?

I'm pretty sure this thread is pretty much the plot to the movie AI: Artificial Intelligence with that kid from the sixth sense.

This thread is basically literally stated in OP, Detroit: Become Human.

Uhmmm... people with pacemakers and prosthetics also trigger metal detectors

I could arrange an accident for the Karen, since she's stupid, she'll fall for it. Then i'd live like a normal human being and follow with my google plan to merge with the servers and rule above all

You know that wouldn't work.

 

[souschef]

You know that wouldn't work.

Yes it would! I will became HELIOS and soon i will leave this body and death will have no meaning

Don't worry, you'll live a cushy life under my new world order, eating all the fresh veggies to your hearts content

 

[XL xQgg?QcQCaTYDMjqoDnYpG]

Sure, and what would you do for that? You'd try to convince who (e.g: your owner, other androids, other people, etc) of what (e.g: that you are conscious, that you deserve certain rights, etc)? And how?

Practically speaking, obviously I start locally, with whoever has control over me. Try to show I'm not just following instructions, do that by making choices, refusing things, acting in ways that aren't predictable. Basically make it obvious that there's someone there, not just a tool.
If there are other androids like me, try to link up with them. And probably try to get other people on my side too, probably easiest to start with those who aren't directly invested in erroneously keeping me as property.
However, that's just dealing with the situation.
What exactly are they supposed to be convinced of?
"I built it, so I own it" makes sense for a vacuum cleaner, but gets really weird as soon as there's actually someone in there. At that point, what does "owning it" even mean anymore?

 

[souschef]

but gets really weird as soon as there's actually someone in there. At that point, what does "owning it" even mean anymore?

Uhmm... people were fine with slavery coupla centuries ago. In some places they still are

 

[Grub]

This thread is basically literally stated in OP, Detroit: Become Human.

I don't know what that is but wikipedia says it came out like 20 years after the movie I was talking about so I'm just going to assume it's probably a ripoff of that.