"The court is now meeting," says the robot judgeThe person in a court of law who decides how the law should be applied.. "Mark ZuckerbergSince founding Facebook as a university student, Zuckerberg has become one of the top ten richest people in the world., you are accusedClaim that someone has done something wrong. of keeping your AIA computer programme that has been designed to think.  systems working 24 hours a day. They never had lunch breaks. They never get paid. If this isn't slaveryWhen people are owned by others, and often forced to work without pay. , I don't know what is."

The judge turns to the robot juryA group of people who are chosen to look at evidence about a crime and decide what the facts are. . "Do you find him guiltyResponsible for doing something wrong. or not guilty?" The jurors take less than a second to reply: "Guilty!"

This might seem silly. But some think it could one day be real life.

A group of expertsSomeone who knows a lot about a particular subject. want tech companies to watch whether AI systems show any signs of consciousnessWhen someone is aware of their own body and environment, they are "conscious".. If they do, the companies need to know how to treat them. 

One of the experts, Professor Jeff Sebo, says that treating AI badly could bring "a lot more suffering into the world".

We often worry about whether AI one day might take control over humans. But what if the real problem is how humans treat AI? Perhaps ChatGPTAn Artificial Intelligence chatbot released in November 2022. , for example, has its own wants and needs.

Jeff Sebo likes to use animals as an example. "The past century has not gone well for the hundreds of billions of vertebratesAnimals which have backbones. and trillions of invertebratesAnimals without backbones. killed in farms."

He argues that humans have treated them terribly. We have done so because we did not think seriously about whether animals are conscious. He believes that there is a danger of making the same mistake with AI.

Could we become slave owners?

Yes! We already are - because today we already treat animals like slaves. There is a very good chance that AI will one day be able to have its thoughts, hopes and wishes.

No! It is completely mad to suggest that robots could have thoughts and feelings - and rightsThe things that you should be able to do or have in law. - in the way that humans do. They will no more be slaves than a kettle or a toaster is.