I had never imagined I would discuss such profound issues with a monkey.
Nor had I expected a monkey to think of such things. It was already pondering the fairness of this world.
Seeing that I said nothing, the monkey sighed. "I thought you would agree with me. I didn't expect you to be no different from the other humans."
I said, "You misunderstood me. It's not that I don't agree with you. I'm just shocked. I truly never expected you to think about such deep issues, and more importantly, the views you raised are meaningful."
The monkey was clearly a little excited. "Oh? Really?"
I nodded. "Personally, I'm willing to accept your view. If Artificial Intelligence truly possesses independent intelligence, an independent personality—forgive me, I don't yet know what word to use in place of 'personality'—as well as emotions, and can control those emotions, then put simply, if it has high emotional intelligence alongside high intelligence, it can indeed be considered an independent living individual. In my view, it should be respected and allowed to exist as an independent life-form. In fact, when we were together, I already did that, didn't I? From the moment we first met, I never treated you differently. I regarded you as a living being, even as one of my companions."
The monkey nodded. "I admit that."
"But I can only represent myself. At most, I might influence a group of people and persuade them to accept my view, but I can't represent most of humanity. So the outcome you want may require a long and difficult process. Still, I think that as long as humans can see that you truly are like that, their views will change accordingly, right?"
It smiled, and its gaze deepened. "Yes, you're right. I can't expect to be