Proxies, Agents, and Personhood

[Excerpt from a book on emulated entities and synthetic intelligence, by Carter Billingsley]

The supreme court is set to weight in on what could be a groundbreaking decision this term: can an Emulated Entity be granted Power of Attorney?

Over the last few decades the public has become increasingly familiar with artificial helpers - from the personal assistants on their wrist-watches to the smart home systems that remind you where you put your keys. But more recent advances in hybrotic tech and the genius of connectomics - the ability to map the myriad neuronal connections inside a person's brain - have thrust digital doppelgangers squarely into the legal arena.

Recently, billionaire Roark Wallace granted Power of Attorney, not to one of his many estranged family members, but to a robotic facsimile of himself named Ransom. Ransom emulates Mr. Wallace's own reasoning, interests, and to some extent personality quirks to the point where the two are nearly indistinguishable - at least over the phone. In person, Ransom's molded ceramic and carbon body - while beautiful - make his true nature unmistakable.

Needless to say, Mr. Wallace's family is not amused, especially concerning Ransom's decision for how to execute Mr. Wallace's will.