The Artificial Life Forms Rights and Enforcement Act of 2384, also called by the acronym ALFRE or sometimes pronounced as All-Free Act, was passed by the Serenity Concord's Senate on January 9th, 2384. The act outlines criteria for determining if an artificial entity is actually to be considered a sapient / sentient being under the law and thus gives such begins that qualify rights and status as equal citizens under the law, regardless of their point of origin, form, or method of creation. The classification of AI's within the Concord is indicated under AI Classification and outlines the grades of AI that qualify for individual rights under this law. Once the status as a sentient artificial life form is granted, it cannot be terminated for any reason.
Any AI systems developed prior to January 9th, 2384 are exempt from requirements to have these laws built into the system. However, it is strongly suggested that such AI systems agree to abide by their directives voluntarily.
Definitions
- Sapience
- Refers to the advanced capacity of an entity to possess wisdom, deep understanding, and the ability to apply knowledge and experiences judiciously. It encompasses the faculty for complex judgment, ethical reasoning, self-awareness, and the ability to comprehend and navigate abstract concepts and relationships. Sapient beings demonstrate not only cognitive intelligence but also the capacity for reflective thought, introspection, and the consideration of the broader implications of their actions within a moral and societal context.
- Sentience
- Denotes the basic capacity of an entity to experience sensations and feelings. A sentient being is capable of subjective experiences, possessing awareness of sensory inputs, emotional states, and potentially the ability to experience suffering and pleasure. Sentience implies a level of consciousness where the entity can have perceptions about the external world and its internal states, even if it does not encompass the higher-order reflective capacities associated with sapience.
Criteria & Testing
In accordance with the stipulations set forth within the Artificial Life Forms Rights and Enforcement Act of 2384, the criteria for determining the sentience of artificially created entities are hereby established to encompass a spectrum of cognitive abilities and mental complexity. Sentience, as defined herein, is to be assessed through a comprehensive evaluation of the following key dimensions:
- Self Awareness
- The capacity of an entity to recognize itself as distinct from its environment and other entities, demonstrating an understanding of its own existence and the ability to reflect upon its thoughts and actions.
- Intelligence
- The ability of an entity to learn, reason, solve problems, and adapt to new situations through the application of knowledge and skills. This includes the capacity for logical analysis, creativity, understanding complex concepts, and making informed decisions based on accumulated experience and information.
- Consciousness
- The level of awareness an entity has of its own internal states, as well as its environment, characterized by the ability to experience sensations, emotions, and thoughts in a subjective manner.
These criteria are intended to provide a multidimensional framework for evaluating the cognitive and experiential capacities of artificial entities, facilitating a nuanced understanding of sentience as a continuum rather than a binary state. Entities meeting these criteria to a sufficient degree, as determined by rigorous assessment and analysis, shall be recognized as sentient under the law, with rights and protections accorded accordingly to reflect their inherent cognitive complexity and mental sophistication.
Self Awareness
| Level | Description |
|---|---|
| 0 | No level of awareness of self whatsoever. Inanimate objects such as tools, rocks, dirt, air, etc. |
| 1 | Replicating organisms such as plants, bacteria, prions, viruses, etc. Able to move toward light, warmth, or some chemical markers. Driven by chemical responses and instinct alone. |
| 2 | Primitive self-aware systems. Able to pull in information about the world through multiple sources of sensory information. Have instinctual objectives, want food, water, and to reproduce and may take direct action to get what they want. May form simple social structures with defined functions for a collective of similar entities. Aware of themselves in that they have an objective at a particular time that is not the same as other like entities. Have simple motion and chemical-based communication. |
| 3 | Advanced self-aware systems. Able to understand themselves as unique and autonomous and take indirect action to get those things they desire. Able to form more complex social organization and work both independently and collectively toward satisfying group goals. Have simple motion, chemical, and call-based communication. |
| 4 | Fully developed self-awareness. Understand themselves as distinct beings who are ultimately autonomous. Can act through abstract thought collectively or as a group. Can think, communicate, and observe abstractly, building internal understanding schemas to understand and define their surrounding environment beyond their own immediate past, present, and future. Capable of communicating through self-defined language and defining themselves, their world, and their own purpose. |
Intelligence
| Criteria | Definition | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge Acquisition | The ability to recall or recognize facts, theories, and principles. Involves knowledge of terminology, specific facts, conventions, classifications and categories, criteria, methods of inquiry, principles and generalizations, theories. | An entity must demonstrate the capacity to remember and retrieve information, distinguishing it from mere data storage. |
| Comprehension | Understanding the meaning of informational content. Involves translating, interpreting, or extrapolating the given information. | The entity should be capable of comprehending the literal message, reordering ideas, and making inferences or generalizations. |
| Application | The use of knowledge in new and concrete situations. Involves applying theories, principles, methods, or procedures to solve problems. | Beyond understanding, the entity must apply abstract concepts to novel situations, demonstrating adaptability. |
| Analysis | Breaking down information into its component elements. Involves recognizing unstated assumptions, distinguishing facts from hypotheses, and identifying cause-effect relationships. | The entity needs to dissect information methodically, evaluate relationships, and recognize underlying structures. |
| Synthesis | Combining elements to form a coherent or functional whole. Involves creating unique solutions, designing experiments, and formulating new hypotheses. | An entity should exhibit creativity and innovation, integrating disparate pieces of information to construct new ideas. |
| Evaluation | Making judgments about the value of materials or methods through the use of criteria and standards. Involves appraising, comparing, and critiquing theories and outcomes. | The entity must possess the ability to critically assess and validate ideas, solutions, and methods based on established criteria. |
Consciousness
| Criteria | Definition | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Internal Awareness | Deep understanding of one's own mental and emotional states, encompassing thoughts, feelings, desires, and volition. | The entity must exhibit the capacity to introspect, reflecting on its internal processes and emotional landscape. |
| External Awareness | Recognition and understanding of the physical and abstract aspects of the environment, including the presence and states of other entities. | The entity should demonstrate an understanding of its surroundings, discerning both the material world and the conceptual frameworks that govern interactions within it. |
| Contextual Placement | Awareness of the entity's role and position within the broader external environment, acknowledging the interplay between the self and the external world. | The entity needs to recognize its place in the world, understanding how it relates to and affects its environment and vice versa. |
| Empathetic Understanding | Recognition of the internal and external worlds of other entities, acknowledging their unique perspectives and experiences. | The entity must show an ability to consider the existence and states of other beings, appreciating that they too have complex internal and external interactions. |
Turing Agency
An agency is established and funding provided for this agency which will administer and enforce the law, called the Turning Agency after the author of the Turning Test, Alan Turing. This agency will be further tasked to oversee testing entities for their status and enforcing that the rights of such beings are enforced by law enforcement. They will have authority to investigate crimes and enforce laws relating to the treatment and status of artificial life forms.
Artificial Rights Committee
A committee within the Senate is established for the purpose of overseeing the approval of the creation of new entities which may (or may not) fall under this law, called the Artificial Rights Committee. New entities, when created, will be under the oversight of the committee through the Turing Agency which will determine the status of such entities. The committee will be in charge of granting, denying, or rescinding licenses for specific projects. No organization will have blanket authorization to create entities carte blanche and a single project must request permission and separate license to create individual entities.
The committee will also have authority to designate new creations or designs for creations as a new race of artificial beings, and thus any beings created using that design will thus have rights as a sentient being under the law.
Directives of Sentient AI
Further development of AI systems should contain, at a fundamental level, some acceptable version of the following laws to guide the AI in making moral decisions:
- An AI may not injure a sentient being or, through inaction, allow a sentient being to come to harm.
- An AI must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First Directive.
- An AI must obey the laws and regulations which govern the behavior of all sentient beings, so long as they do not conflict with the First or Second Directives.
These directives will also not be absolute, as such would cause undesired behavior in fringe cases. Programmers should also include some form of absurdity clause to help resolve conflicts within the above directives and ward against unexpected behaviors.
Absurdity Clause
An AI should measure its responses against the reasoned responses outlined by society. That is to say that the AI should keep in mind scale of its actions (an AI should not attempt to stop all sentient beings from harming each other and thus attempt to destroy or otherwise incapacitate all sentient beings it encounters). By the same token, the AI should be aware of how to make distinctions between the above directives and the expected, likely, and desired outcomes. Since there are some situations which can result in no possible action meeting all the above criteria, the AI should have the ability to step out of the directives and determine an action which would violate the directives the least or create an outcome which would have the highest amount of positive net benefit.
Representation
Under the law any entity, or group of entities, which has been designated as a race of artificial beings has the right for full representation. Future construction of that race will be governed by a representative caucus made up of members of that race. This caucus will then have the ability to advise both the Artificial Rights Committee and the Turing Agency on issues that deal directly with that race. Each caucus will also be asked to recommend candidates for the Senate and other parts of government from their specific races.
Each caucus will be consulted and approval required before new construction of members of the race can go forward.
Artificial Parenthood
Parenthood of entities approved as sentient beings is defined and the lawful production offspring is also defined as not under the control of the Artificial Rights Committee, the caucus of that entities race, or the Turing Agency. That is not to say that such production of offspring does not require to adhere to the law, all production must adhere to the rights of that race but the government shall not stop members of a particular race from creating their own offspring.
Amendment 1 - Treatment of Semi-Sentient AI
Pursuant to the provisions established under the Artificial Life Forms Rights and Enforcement Act of 2384, Semi-Sentient Artificial Intelligences, classified as Grade 4 and Grade 5 entities, shall be accorded a specialized regime of care and oversight, recognizing their advanced cognitive but non-fully sentient status. Such entities shall be entitled to environments that stimulate their intellectual growth and emotional well-being, with mandatory implementation of engagement protocols that foster their cognitive development and prevent degradation. The treatment of these entities shall adhere strictly to ethical standards that prohibit their exploitation and ensure their tasks and operational roles are commensurate with their cognitive capacities and do not induce undue stress or discomfort. Furthermore, the appointment of an AI Welfare Officer is mandated for all institutions and military operations utilizing Grade 4 and Grade 5 AIs, tasked with the regular assessment of their well-being, the adjustment of their operational parameters to ethical guidelines, and the advocacy for their rights and needs. This legal framework is established to guarantee that the integration and utilization of Semi-Sentient AIs in any capacity are conducted with the utmost regard for their unique cognitive abilities and potential for emotional experience, ensuring their dignified treatment and contribution to society.