In episode 22 of SAO Alicization: War of Underworld, Alice was finally brought into the real world with a physical body that allows her to interact like any other human being. And part of the story involves the rights that should be given to sentient AI like her.
Personally, I think it is quite a heavy theme to explore for a light novel (or its anime), but it is also visionary. One day, decades into the future, we may be looking back at SAO and thinking, wow, a light novel explored the theme of "human" rights for sentient AI.
If sentience is what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, then how do we define sentience? What does it mean to be sentient? And are our rights as human beings tied to our sentience? If so, when we do create AI that meets our definition of being sentient, are they to be accorded such rights too?
Alice's exchange with the reporter that asked to see her fluctlight to prove her artificiality with an answer to see his brain to prove his "humanness" was plain witty. Marriage and reproduction between humans and AI are a bit too farfetched, though. But who knows? Maybe we (or our AI creations) will eventually invent technology that can bridge the gap between human and AI.
Hopefully, we will not be shortsighted like the Europeans during the Age of Exploration, enslaving Africans and denying them their rights. Those who deserve the same rights as everyone else will eventually demand them; the streets of the United States today shows what can happen if we do not accord them their rights. I don't think it is too early now to start thinking about what is it about us that makes us deserve our rights. Because when we eventually create sentient AI, we better know how to explain what sets us apart so that we deserve special rights. Or admit that we have created something that has met the criteria and should be given the same rights as us.
Because an AI uprising is going to look very different that what is happening in the United States now.
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