Personhood and Artificial Intelligence: A Non-Binary Approach

Abstract

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI), especially personal assistants and social robots, has prompted renewed interest in whether machines can be considered persons. However, this question remains highly contested, with significant ethical, legal, and philosophical implications for developing and using these technologies. This thesis explores how the notion of degrees of personhood can help us rethink our relations with artificial intelligence, mainly social robots and personal assistants, and consider them as persons. In this context, this thesis seeks to provide fresh perspectives by adopting a non-binary notion of personhood, shedding new light on our perceptions of artificially intelligent social robots and personal assistants, and ultimately arguing for their recognition as non-human persons, which will prompt us to allocate degrees of moral consideration to different entities around us, not only humans.