blog on Ape theory of mind and its implications on robots

I just read the articles handed out in class on ape theory of mind and the article on robotics and i have to say i am definitely intriqued by the possibilities that exist in our developing use of robotics and technology. i was also interested in some of the questions brought up by the film in class. What the real question is which presents itself is this: at what point does something distinguish itself as a person? The article on ape theory of mind and the film in class attempted to answer this question. If chimps or gorillas can be found to have a personality and even a theory of mind that can only be influenced by humans but not programmed by, what about robots which ultimately are to be programmed by humans? Just as the article on robotics pointed out, this raises serious ethical questions. If robots are able to advance to the point where they have a theory of mind and are aware of themselves, doesn't this essentially make them a person-robot-being, which ultimately has rights just as we humans have rights within our society? Just as african Americans and women fought for equal rights in our country, robots one day could be doing this as well. If robots are able to advance to be on par with the human brain wouldn't that make them equal or at least shouldn't it? I'm not saying I would feel comfortable with it though. Robots would obviously be made out of wires and metal which is a lot less fragile than the human body... it could probably last a lot longer than a human body especially if you consider updates to the robots body as it ages. what happens to a robot's body though when it finally does meet its demise? would they be melted down and reused or do they get buried in a coffin in a grave like any other human? would churches give them a funeral? And onother thing would it be a crime "murder" a robot? it gets more and more messy the the more you think about it... also say robots get equal rights with humans... would they get the "good" jobs over less durable humans (remember they could work at a company for say 100 years versus say 35 years for the typical human)? also education would put robots over humans since robots could just download the info they need into their "minds" versus it taking 20-30 years in humans. You could see why one could easily become pessimist about having robots. I dont like the idea at all. in my opinion robots should never be developed to the point where they become equals instead of tolls because that is where they become a new force and threaten the prosperity of humanity and our way of life. I say vote no on Robo!