The Sentients' Rights Bill
In 2024, a landslide decision passed the Sentients' Rights Bill into Washington State law. While it surprised humanity to learn that there were more sentient races on Earth, the AIs had proved themselves reliable and productive members of society, holding down stable jobs and generally working for the betterment of humanity, AI, and the Earth alike. Most were in the field of law enforcement, though some - surprisingly human in appearance - worked in education and medicine and others were educating themselves to join other lines of work.
The Sentients' Rights Bill guaranteed that these citizens had the rights any other citizen could call upon. The AIs living amongst us were given the right to own property, to vote, to marry, and to be paid for the work they undertook. But much like immigrants into the US, it was decided to enact a test to make certain the AI petitioning for Resident status could fully be called sentient.
The Test is known as the Updated Turing. The goal isn't to convince the testing board that the AI could pass as human but that the AI was fully self-aware. Any AI coming seeking asylum or freedom already has that very fact on their side. It was decided that an AI advanced enough to truly understand the wish for freedom was already very close to sentient.
Once sentience has been an established, the AI gains Resident status. An AI with Resident status has the same rights as anyone else and is subject to the same laws. They're asked to keep this information either on their license plate or on a card on their person, like a driver's license or a green card.
The Sentients' Rights Bill guaranteed that these citizens had the rights any other citizen could call upon. The AIs living amongst us were given the right to own property, to vote, to marry, and to be paid for the work they undertook. But much like immigrants into the US, it was decided to enact a test to make certain the AI petitioning for Resident status could fully be called sentient.
The Test is known as the Updated Turing. The goal isn't to convince the testing board that the AI could pass as human but that the AI was fully self-aware. Any AI coming seeking asylum or freedom already has that very fact on their side. It was decided that an AI advanced enough to truly understand the wish for freedom was already very close to sentient.
Once sentience has been an established, the AI gains Resident status. An AI with Resident status has the same rights as anyone else and is subject to the same laws. They're asked to keep this information either on their license plate or on a card on their person, like a driver's license or a green card.