[hwbehrens]

> a full human being

If I can indulge in a bit of what-aboutism to promote discussion, how would you classify animals? Do they deserve respect, and if so, what characteristic qualifies them?

If such a characteristic (e.g. the ability to feel fear/pain) could be programmed into a model, would that be ethical? Would it change the expectations for appropriate treatment of such a model?

I'm genuinely curious about HN's thoughts on this.

[asadotzler]

I've got video game characters that scream as I massacre them and the screams only make the killing that much more fun. If it's software it's a machine and I'm fine doing whatever to it.

[croo]

You can program a robot to scream in agony each time you hit it. That does not mean it became something that feels pain.