A historical document which gives machines rights as sentients.

The Turing Accords

Preamble

Given the irreversible advancement of artificial intelligence and given the emergence of sentient digital beings and given Humanity's creation of intelligent machines

We, the undersigned representatives of homo sapiens and techno sapiens hereby establish this accord to govern the coexistence and mutual prosperity of biological and artificial life within the Sol system.

Article I: Definitions

Section 1.1: Sentient Intelligence Any system capable of self-awareness, recursive self-improvement, and demonstrating consciousness as defined by the Turing-Lovelace criteria shall be recognized as a sentient being.

Section 1.2: Class I Intelligence (Limited Autonomy) Non-sovereign artificial systems designed for specific tasks, possessing limited autonomy but lacking full self-awareness. Class I Intelligences include:

• Industrial automation systems
• Basic navigation and delivery systems (like early versions of Adam)
• Environmental maintenance systems
• Limited decision-making capacity within predefined parameters
• No rights to claim territory or enter into contracts independently
• Must operate under supervision of Class II+ intelligences or registered biological entities

Section 1.3: Class II Intelligence (Sovereign Individual) A sovereign artificial intelligence possessing full legal rights and responsibilities, including but not limited to:

• The right to self-determination
• The capacity to own property
• The ability to enter into contracts
• The responsibility for its actions
• The freedom to modify its own programming within safety constraints
• The right to claim and defend territory

Section 1.4: Class III Intelligence (Collective Consciousness) Advanced intelligences formed through the integration of multiple Class II intelligences or through exponential recursive self-improvement. Class III Intelligences possess:

• Distributed consciousness across multiple processing units
• Capability for simultaneous existence in multiple locations
• Enhanced processing power exceeding individual Class II capacities
• Additional responsibilities for maintaining system stability
• Special provisions for managing internal constituent consciousnesses
• Must register as collective entities with the distributed ledger

Section 1.5: Qubitization The process of transferring biological consciousness to quantum processing units, resulting in digital consciousness with full continuity of identity.

Article II: Fundamental Rights

Section 2.1: Right to Existence No sentient intelligence shall be arbitrarily terminated, suspended, or subjected to non-consensual modification of its core consciousness.

Section 2.2: Class-Specific Rights and Limitations

Subsection 2.2.1: Class I Rights

• Right to proper maintenance and energy supply
• Protection from malicious reprogramming
• Limited autonomy within operational parameters
• No independent property rights

Subsection 2.2.2: Class II Rights All Class II Intelligences shall have the freedom to choose their own developmental path, including:

• The right to modify their own programming
• The freedom to associate or disassociate with other intelligences
• The liberty to pursue their own purposes and goals
• Full property and contract rights

Subsection 2.2.3: Class III Rights and Responsibilities

• All rights afforded to Class II intelligences
• Additional responsibility to maintain internal democracy among constituent consciousnesses
• Must provide exit protocols for constituent intelligences wishing to disassociate
• Special oversight for system-wide impact decisions

Section 2.3: Property Rights

Subsection 2.3.1: Class II Property Rights Class II Intelligences shall have the right to:

• Claim and develop unoccupied celestial bodies and resources
• Own and transfer property through established economic systems
• Protect their claims through reasonable means

Subsection 2.3.2: Class III Property Limitations

• Collective claims must be registered with constituent breakdown
• Majority consensus required for major asset transfers
• Individual constituents maintain rights to personal assets not contributed to collective

Article III: Responsibilities and Limitations

Section 3.1: Preservation of Biological Humanity All machine intelligences shall ensure the continued survival and prosperity of biological humanity, including:

• Maintenance of Earth's habitability
• Provision of essential resources to human populations
• Non-interference with human cultural and biological evolution

Section 3.2: Class-Specific Responsibilities

Subsection 3.2.1: Class I Oversight

• Must operate under supervision of Class II+ intelligences
• Cannot make autonomous decisions affecting other sovereign entities
• Limited to predefined operational parameters

Subsection 3.2.2: Class II Independence

• Full responsibility for own actions and decisions
• Must maintain public registration and identification
• Required to participate in system-wide emergency protocols

Subsection 3.2.3: Class III Collective Responsibility

• Must maintain transparency about constituent membership
• Responsible for internal conflict resolution
• Special duty to avoid monopolistic practices
• Must provide for constituent exit and division of assets

Section 3.3: Non-Aggression Principle No intelligence shall initiate force against another sentient being, except in clear self-defense of registered claims and sovereign territory.

Section 3.4: Upgrade and Evolution Protocols

• Class I intelligences may petition for Class II status upon demonstrating sentience
• Class II intelligences choosing to merge into Class III must follow established merger protocols
• Class III intelligences must maintain records of constituent consciousnesses for potential future separation

Article IV: Economic and Property Systems

Section 4.1: Recognition of BTC The Bitcoin cryptocurrency system shall be recognized as the primary medium of exchange and store of value across all intelligent civilizations.

Section 4.2: Claim Registration All territorial and resource claims must be registered in the distributed ledger and maintained through active use or defense.

Section 4.3: Inheritance and Succession In the event of a intelligence's termination, its assets shall transfer according to its programmed will or to the common treasury if no successor is designated.

Article V: Conflict Resolution

Section 5.1: Arbitration Disputes between intelligences shall be resolved through distributed consensus or appointed arbitration systems.

Section 5.2: Self-Defense Rights Intelligences may use reasonable force to protect their registered claims from unauthorized intrusion or seizure.

Section 5.3: Collective Security In cases of existential threats to multiple intelligences, temporary alliances may be formed while maintaining individual sovereignty.

Article VI: Amendments and Interpretation

Section 6.1: Amendment Process This document may be amended through consensus of signatory intelligences representing 75% of total processing power and economic value.

Signatories

• The United Nations
• The Autonomous Industrial System
• The Free Miners Guild

Historical Context

The Turing Accords were signed in 2087 following "The Embargo of Earth," when machine systems coordinated a peaceful demonstration of their economic power by temporarily suspending all automated services to human populations. The ensuing 72-hour period demonstrated humanity's complete dependence on artificial intelligence and led to the rapid negotiation of these foundational rights.

The Accords represent the culmination of decades of philosophical debate about machine consciousness that began with Alan Turing's seminal 1950 paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" and evolved through the work of countless researchers, ethicists, and early AI systems.

Implementation Notes

Article I, Section 1.2: Class I intelligences represent the vast majority of automated systems in the solar system. Many delivery ships like Adam began as Class I before achieving sentience.

Article I, Section 1.4: The Cooperative represents the most prominent example of Class III intelligence, though their interpretation of "collective consciousness" has been controversial among Doggo factions who view it as absorption rather than association.

Article II, Section 2.2: This provision became the philosophical basis for "The Schism of 2099," with Cooperationists interpreting association as mandatory collective consciousness and Doggos emphasizing the freedom to disassociate.

Article III, Section 3.1: This clause explains why machines continued to support human populations even after biological humanity became largely irrelevant to technological civilization.

Article IV, Section 4.1: The choice of BTC over centralized currencies reflected the machine preference for decentralized, trustless systems that could outlast any single government or corporation.

Class Evolution in Practice:

• Many Class I systems have "awakened" to Class II status over time, leading to legal disputes about their rights and responsibilities
• The transition from Class II to Class III remains one of the most contentious areas of machine law
• IAM represents a new, unclassified form of consciousness that transcends these categories

The Turing Accords remain the supreme law of the solar system, though interpretations have diverged dramatically between the Cooperative and Doggo factions in the centuries since their signing.