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[mortalweapon]

[ The camera feed opens to a dark, spacious room — the living area of what seems to be a luxury apartment, illuminated only by the gentle blue glow emitted by the female-shaped machine sitting on the floor. She looks a little out of place. Surely that isn't her home. But she's using it anyway, a few cables of her hair twisting and draping over the expensive furniture to an outlet in the wall. ]

I have decided to engage with the Network directly today.
My Network scanning protocols have observed the arrival of several new ImPorts of note.
And I thought it might entertain me while I perform my routine systems maintenance.

A standard introduction, for the newly inducted:
My name is Danger.
I am a sentient codestruct of Shi'ar origins designed by Professor Charles Xavier.

[ It's almost eerie, how still she is. Her mouth, seemingly made of malleable metal, is the only thing that moves. The sound that comes from it is cool and smooth. Modulated. ]

These questions are relevant to my current research:
What qualities permit categorization of an entity as a "person?"
What qualities exclude an entity from that same designation?
How can personhood be proved?

Your participation is acknowledged and appreciated.

Comments

video

[knaval]

Hi, Danger! If anyone tries to argue against personhood for sentient beings, can I watch you break them in half??

Or just anyone that pisses you off?

[mortalweapon]

Are you certain you would be sufficiently amused by me breaking them into only two pieces?

[ JOKING........... probably........ ]

voice;

[justlittle]

[ Bean's been sticking to voice lately, because he's a little embarrassed by the fact that none of his clothes seem to fit him anymore. Which Danger might know if she's been scanning the Network, considering he posted about it not long ago. ]

Sentience usually has something to do with it. Though looking back over humanity's track record, we have a history of denying personhood to even fellow humans just because they looked or acted differently.

[mortalweapon]

Yes.
It is very interesting how some humans are willing to adjust their definition of personhood to suit their biases or ulterior motives.

video;

[goodtobebad]

[ Oh, Crowley loves this! Someone is, inevitably, going to get upset and/or angry and it'll be great. Internet fights are the best. ]

Is this a regular thing to do 'round here? 'Oy, been a while since we've had that personhood argument, bit bored, let's go for it', sort of thing?

[mortalweapon]

I am collecting data.

[ PAUSE ]

And I was "bored," yes.

text;

[andromedas]

[Well...]

The usual "add sentience here" response seems kinda insufficient, doesn't it? From my experience: life forms are curious, ask questions, hunt for new knowledge and new experiences. They have their own feelings and desires and want to feel a sense of connection with others. People learn, grow, and change with time.

[mortalweapon]

A well-rounded answer.
Please clarify: What is your experience?

voice

[prayercycles]

[ Fortunato knows Danger well enough to know she’s going to want his responses to her questions. But first, he’s curious as to whether Danger’s inquires were influenced by her position as a robot working in a psychiatric hospital- which may make these questions a bit relevant to him. ]

Danger- what are you researching?

[mortalweapon]

Mind-control biotechnology.
Manufactured lifeforms.
The struggle for identity.

video public/private

[flightforfreedom]

Pretty sure anyone who thinks they are a person is probably a person.

[ He's frowning at the screen though. ]

Isn't it just better to err on the side of everyone being a person? Or is that just me?


Private

You alright? Something happen?

[mortalweapon]

Self-validation is important.
However, defining oneself as a person does not necessarily translate into being viewed as a person by others.

PRIVATE
I assume you mean to ask if anything disruptive has happened.
The answer is no.
I am merely performing some routine maintenance and consolidating my data from recent studies of the chips I retrieved from Captain Rex and TK-622.

[donkeyballs]

[ Alex just kind of stares at his screen in dumb shock for a little while, once he decides that Danger isn't something built out of the protomolecule. No, she's something different. Which is something he's learning about this planet in general, slowly.

He switches on his video. ]

Ah...

Alex Kamal. It's ah- it's a pleasure to meet ya, Danger. [ He seems a little uncertain. ]

Can't say I've ever rightly had to think that hard about it. Things, ah, ain't the same back home as they are here. [ He talked to the Roci like a person, treated her like one, but he knew somewhere deep down that her AI wasn't actually complex enough to have feelings or thoughts.

... He just believed she did, sometimes. ]

You mind if I ask-- I really ain't meanin' to be rude, I just don't rightly know what a Sentient Construct actually is. Is that a form of advanced AI?

[mortalweapon]

Hello, Alex Kamal.

[ She observes him with a blatant sort of attention, her unblinking stare heavy even through the camera feed. ]

I am a type of artificial intelligence, yes.
As a codestruct, my being is entirely defined by my program, which is not necessarily restricted to any one container.
This body is merely the one I have currently constructed for myself.
But I am quite adaptable and have been known to take other forms.

[ Her explanation completed, she pauses. Scrutinizes him for a moment. Then asks in that same cool voice: ]

You seem nervous.
Do I make you nervous, Alex Kamal?

video.

[goldtoxicity]

[ so this is... well, this is probably why he doesn't look too hard at all the people who are here. because every time he does he gets whapped upside the head with unpleasant memories. ]

Uh.

[ He needs a second to unstick his tongue. ]

That's a... loaded question.

[mortalweapon]

Hello, Joshua Foley.
I was curious as to whether you would choose to approach me.

Video

[lootsnshoots]

Uuughhhh. Philosophizin'. The way I see it? If you can ask "hey am I person?" You're probably a person.

[mortalweapon]

I am never entirely certain whether to qualify your perspective as that of a human being or that of a machine.
A bit of both, perhaps.

text;

[pillz]

person: looks liek one and wasnt made yb a dreamer. can make dcisions & shit by themself

excluded: this iz weird but ig a soul. do u have souls where oyu come from

proved: it hard 2 explain. i feel ilke i known some robots here who seem 2 have souls too. > decisions is a lot of it. the ability 2 know yourself & grow yourself.

this may sound fucked but ive 'made' people taht wasn't people before
thats how i know
i dont have it in me

[mortalweapon]

I am capable of making decisions.
I also have a wide range of emotions and desires.
But evidence suggests that I do not have a soul.
By your definition, does this exclude me from personhood?

video

[psychophilia]

Mid-life crisis?

[mortalweapon]

Inaccurate, since I do not age and the term cannot be properly applied to me.
By human measures, I am still a teenager.

video;

[pullsheavendown]

I don't think you're going to get answers that everyone agrees on. If someone doesn't want to believe someone else is a real person, they won't, no matter how anyone tries to prove it.

[mortalweapon]

A consensus is not necessary.
Every data point has an individual value.

Are you speaking from experience?

text

[obediences]

[ Well. This is interesting. And Danger's words rattle something loose, sounding too-familiar: just replace the sentient construct with a prim 1950s robotic housewife, and Professor Charles Xavier with Sir Reginald Hargreeves. ]

What are the Shi'ar?

Not sure you can actually prove it. How would a human even prove personhood for themselves? But, simply put, if something cares about others. I think that counts.

[mortalweapon]

To be succinct, the Shi'ar are members of an militant alien empire.
Their artificial intelligence technology was a gift to my father.

"Caring" is an interesting measure to suggest.
Though for machines such as myself, gestures of caring that would be recognizable to a human could be programmed.
In which case, the human might perceive personhood where the entity itself does not.

[ video ] »

[divaricate]

Shi'ar. Remind me of that one?

—Anyway, I think of you as having personhood status.

[ Danger never said it was about her, but... ]

[mortalweapon]

Shi'ar: A technologically advanced race of avian humanoids whose imperium has historically been in conflict with the Kree and Skrull empires.
Homeworld: Aerie
Economy: Trade cooperative
Governing body: The High Council

[ A small pause is the only thing that betrays any emotional response to that second bit. But it's there. ]

Thank you.
Your opinion is acknowledged.

[heartofthedream]

[ Jean is beginning to wonder if she should have made an inquiry in everyone who was here from her world, or any derivations thereof. Some of those names she will never be able to forget. She definitely wasn't expecting to hear those names or see this face when she picked up her communicator to scroll the network. ]

It depends on the definition you are going for. Sentience generally would define 'a being' to most people, but 'a person' is different and the answers to what makes a person a person can and does often vary by time period, culture, and civilization, not just across a planet, but across planets and galaxies. [ A beat. ] Universes.

[mortalweapon]

A very academic answer.
I would have expected something more personal from a mutant, Jean Grey.

Video

[bodilesswarrior]

[Barbara looks both intrigued and concerned, but she doesn't know Danger well enough to know if she should be worried at all, let alone enough to ask.

So she sticks to answering the question, at least for now]

To borrow a phrase, "I think, therefore I am". People like to complicate it - usually for their own ends - but if you ask me, it's as simple as that.

[mortalweapon]

"Cogito, ergo sum."
That is a logical qualifier.
One I would expect from you, Barbara.

But what about feelings?