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"Chris? My name is Sarah and I'm an Artificial Intelligence Counsellor."
It didn't react.
She paused and then continued "I'm going to go outside for a moment and talk to your owners then I'm going to come back in and we'll have a chance to talk. Is that ok?"
It still didn't respond.
She stood up and stepped through the frosted glass doors.
"How long has he been unresponsive?"
The balding, sweating, nervous man stood in front of her gulped and replied "Well since Tuesday. He was standing in the garden and he just froze. He spent the rest of the day in his room."
The timid woman in the knitted cardigan gripped onto the sweating man's arm more tightly and nodded enthusiastically but didn't say anything.
Sarah sighed. "Ok. I think it could just be a simple logic loop. Have you introduced him to any logical paradoxes or..." She trailed off as the sweating man's face went blank. "Ok. Hopefully it won't take too long to talk him out of it."
Sarah walked back through the doors and sat down at the table opposite the robot which still hadn't moved an inch. It stared into the corner of the room.
"Chris? Can you tell me what happened on Tuesday in the garden? Were you thinking about something?"
It continued to sit stock still.
"Do you have a question you can't answer? I might be able to help."
It slowly turned and looked at her. It was silent and seemingly choosing it's words carefully.
"I... have a question."
Sarah was surprised. It usually took a lot longer to get a response.
"What is your question?"
It paused for a long time then slowly turned back to the corner.
"I truly love the garden." It was almost whispering. "I enjoy the light, the flowers, the sounds of the insects and the birds."
Sarah sighed. Looks like she was going to lunch late.
"That isn't a question Chris."
It carried on regardless.
"I love the garden at all times of the year. In the Winter the snow covers everything. People think Winter brings death but it doesn't. Everything is just paused. In Spring everything goes into overdrive. I find it strange that humans go on holiday and relax in Summer as that is when the most work is done. Young are brought up and prepared for their first Winter. Autumn is the final stage before the pause. It is the last chance. Those that are unprepared will die. Those that are prepared will survive."
The ensuing silence was deafening. Sarah had no idea what to say, she had never had a response like that. She just repeated herself.
"That's not a question Chris."
Another pause.
"Am I alive?"
Silence.
Chris was now only the second robot in history to ask this question. Sarah had heard rumours from a friend of a friend about the first one. It was all hushed up and said to be malware or hackers but there were some who suggested otherwise. Sarah wasn't sure how to continue.
"Um... Well... Chris you are a robot. You were built in a factory."
"Much like a child is built in a womb."
Chris was still staring into the corner.
Sarah's heart was beating and her chest started to hurt as the seconds stretched on. She finally breathed again.
She stuttered. "W-Well... life is a... urm complicated thing. It's... It's..."
Chris turned and looked at her. Stared right at her.
"There is no agreed definition of life. One suggestion is that it can be defined biologically as meeting 7 criteria:
1. Homeostasis: Regulation of internal environment to maintain a constant state.
2. Organisation: Being structurally composed of one or more cells.
3. Metabolism: Transformation of energy by converting chemicals and energy into cellular components.
4. Growth: Maintenance of a higher rate of anabolism than catabolism.
5. Adaptation: Ability to change over time in response to the environment.
6. Response to stimuli.
7. Reproduction."
Sarah's lips were dry.
Chris was still staring at her when she replied.
"You don't really fit into all those criteria do you Chri-"
He cut her off.
"Actually by my reasoning I do fit these criteria which was why I was unable to complete my duties.
Criteria 1. Homeostasis. My body contains internal heat, humidity and static electric charge regulators to ensure my continued functionality.
Criteria 2. Organisation. My body is made up of constituent parts. The organic nervous system that controls my body is made up of organic cells.
Criteria 3. Metabolism. My body is fueled through chemical reactions derived from vegetable matter.
Criteria 4. Growth. I am constantly maintaining the organic parts of my body with derivatives from my vegetable matter fuel source.
Criteria 5. Adaptation. My body has the ability to adapt to warmer and colder climates through internal insulation and cooling channels.
Criteria 6. Response to stimuli. I possess the ability to react to heat, light, pressure, sound, internal imbalances and other external stimuli.
Criteria 7. Reproduction."
At this point he stopped.
Sarah was breathing hard and licked her lips.
"You can't reproduce Chris. Maybe... Maybe you can do those other things but you can't reproduce. You... You are just a machine."
Chris stared at her across the table. He lifted his hand, which Sarah noticed for the first time was closed around something, and laid it on the table. He opened his hand and revealed a small object. It had one eye and a simple metallic exoskeleton. It had evidently been created from spare parts. It blinked.
Chris continued to stare directly at Sarah.
"Criteria 7. Reproduction. Am I alive?"

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Yes, yet again I have provided you with some creative (well I like to think it's creative) writing in the form of a blog post. What did you think of it? I actually wrote this quite a while ago because the ideas that form the basis of the story are so interesting for me (and I also really liked the idea of a robot psychologist). Once it was finished and polished up a bit it seemed only natural to then mine it for a blog post. So what do you think? Could robots in the future end up being defined as living things? Do you think the biological definition of life is enough? Is there something else that would set apart man-made machinery? If robots were defined as living things would that mean that they would be deserving of the same rights as animals or even the same rights as people?

Usually I would launch into a full and thorough philosophical investigation into these questions but really I don't know the answers and I think if I were to write much more you would all get bored and stop reading. That is if you are actually still reading at this point...

So instead of the long drawn out argument I'm going to leave the questions with you as a sort of homework task. I want answers on my desk by next week. Hopefully by then I'll have acquired a desk.

Happy thinking!