Red Squirrel
No Lifer
No mater how sophisticated the AI becomes it's never going to have real actual feelings, only artificial ones, so at the end of the day it's still a machine. Though because they will probably have artificial emotions I can see it get to a point where people are attached to them as if it was a true living being. So it's hard to tell, I could easily see groups of people fight to give them rights like humans or pets, at the very least.
Even now we tend to grow attached to inanimate objects to a point where it may hurt to see them destroyed, like say, classic cars, or vintage equipment. The reasoning is usually one of nostalgia though, but imagine a robot that looks very alive, some people would probably see it like you see a living thing.
Things will get interesting if it ever gets to that point though, like will humanoid robots get more rights than a living pet for example? Of course it is inevitable that people will want to be able to marry their robot and stuff too. I could see it get controversial.
Even now we tend to grow attached to inanimate objects to a point where it may hurt to see them destroyed, like say, classic cars, or vintage equipment. The reasoning is usually one of nostalgia though, but imagine a robot that looks very alive, some people would probably see it like you see a living thing.
Things will get interesting if it ever gets to that point though, like will humanoid robots get more rights than a living pet for example? Of course it is inevitable that people will want to be able to marry their robot and stuff too. I could see it get controversial.