Robots, androids and sentient machines are becoming more common, especially within industry. And let’s not forget Alexa and Google Assistant AI. I think the most realistic robot I’ve seen so far has got to be Sophie, who recently went on a date with Will Smith.

Sophie was created by a US roboticist named Dr. David Hanson, and he has just published the research paper Entering The Age of Living Intelligent Systems and Android Society, and stated that these various robots will share the same civil rights as humans by the year of 2045. Of course these types of robots don’t exist yet, unless you can count Sophie, but by 2045, there’s going to be some pretty funky robots walking around.

By 2031, robots are believed to have enough intelligence to carry out medial tasks within the military and emergency services which is pretty scary if you think about it. Although if you become trapped inside a burning building, then having a robot bursting in to save you would be pretty cool, and would keep human fire fighters out of harms way.

By 2035 however, Hanson speculates that androids will be able to do everything that humans can do now. He mentions passing PHD exams, and function with the intelligence of an 18 year old human. It gets even scarier when the civil rights stuff kicks in, as this will give androids the chance to vote in general elections, have the right to marry and own land.

It reminds me of the film iRobot, where robots decide enough is enough and attempt to take over and wipe out humans. Imagine, general election time and there is a robot running to be president of the United State of America.

The paper has been commissioned alongside the release of the new PS4 sci-fi title Detroit: Become Human. Dr. David Hanson comments: “As depicted in Detroit: Become Human, lawmakers and corporations in the near future will attempt legal and ethical suppression of machine emotional maturity, so that people can feel safe.”

“Meanwhile artificial intelligence won’t hold still. As people’s demands for more generally intelligent machines push the complexity of AI forward, there will come a tipping point where robots will awaken and insist on their rights to exist, to live free.”

Detroit: Become Human will be out on the 25th May 2018 exclusively on PlayStation 4. To purchase the game and for more information please visit the PlayStation website. In the mean time, I’m just going to wait for the moment my future self sends one of his top soldiers back in time to save me from the robot uprising. Sound familiar anyone?