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Futurist Sheridan Forge responds to Elon Musk's new claim that Tesla's main focus will be robots. Given his propensity for doing what he says, and realizing grand visions as an agent of change, we can expect Tesla robots, as well as equally-capable robots from numerous other companies to integrate into our lives in the near future. As welcome as that assistant, worker, or companion, may be, at what point do we begin to see them as human, or as equals intellectually? Robots have no ancestors, no generational lineage. They have no provenance, cannot feel emotions, or wield the perspective of a life of struggle and resilience, so how could they ever be "human"? At what point would they surpass us in raw knowledge? Under what circumstance would we grant them rights - to invention, to sentience, to true autonomy? Are we ultimately facing robot unions? Will they evolve quickly enough to value real human life, spirituality, wisdom, consciousness?

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