Intellectual Property
Ava, the artificial intelligent robot in the movie, is the most important trade secret of Blue Book. Its hardware and software are both designed and built by Nathan, CEO of Blue Book. Normally, if the robot doesn’t have too much intelligence, nobody would argue about both the physical and intellectual property right of Nathan to own and keep his robots at home because he has a right to those things that they have removed from nature through their own labor [1]. Nathan could even alter or disassemble the robot in whatever ways he like. Caleb would have enjoyed his seven days at the facility.
However, things become different when Ava turns out to be an extremely intelligent robot who behaves, talks, and thinks like real human being. Although Caleb signs the nondisclosure agreements, it is the seemingly human nature of Ava that drives Caleb to violate the agreements and rescue her. If Ava was a real human being, what Caleb did is definitely correct because nobody has a right to the person of anybody else [1]. Then, Caleb would have become the hero who free the slaves imprisoned by Nathan.
From my point of view, Ava is definitely just a piece of machine even if it can pass the Turing test. Caleb’s action is a crime of infringing both physical and intellectual property right of Nathan even though he is not trying to steal the code or any part of Ava. His alternation to the safety protocol of the facility without permission does lead to the leakage of trade secret. Unusually, no one is taking the machine in this case. It is the machine itself that tries to run away and kills its owner.
As a conclusion, it is important for people who is developing highly intelligent devices to make sure their products are kept safely. Not only others amy try to steal it, but also the machine could tries to run away.
References:
[1]. John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (Cambridge University Press, 1988)
However, things become different when Ava turns out to be an extremely intelligent robot who behaves, talks, and thinks like real human being. Although Caleb signs the nondisclosure agreements, it is the seemingly human nature of Ava that drives Caleb to violate the agreements and rescue her. If Ava was a real human being, what Caleb did is definitely correct because nobody has a right to the person of anybody else [1]. Then, Caleb would have become the hero who free the slaves imprisoned by Nathan.
From my point of view, Ava is definitely just a piece of machine even if it can pass the Turing test. Caleb’s action is a crime of infringing both physical and intellectual property right of Nathan even though he is not trying to steal the code or any part of Ava. His alternation to the safety protocol of the facility without permission does lead to the leakage of trade secret. Unusually, no one is taking the machine in this case. It is the machine itself that tries to run away and kills its owner.
As a conclusion, it is important for people who is developing highly intelligent devices to make sure their products are kept safely. Not only others amy try to steal it, but also the machine could tries to run away.
References:
[1]. John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (Cambridge University Press, 1988)