Meet Sophia, the first robot to be granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia
Roshni Dhal
9+ years, No 9-5. No Clients. I work and travel freely. If you’re not earning online in the AI age, what's holding you back?
Her name is Sophia. She looks a bit like Audrey Hepburn and gives facial expressions while talking. She has an answer for every question. And she is the first robot to be granted citizenship of Saudi Arabia.
Sophia is a humanoid robot developed by Hanson Robotics, who is programmed to be witty, was interviewed by business writer Andrew Ross Sorkin at a Future Investment Conference in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Sorkin also announced that Sophia had been awarded citizenship of the Middle Eastern kingdom, the first for any robot. Saudi Arabia is making an effort to promote itself as a destination to develop artificial intelligence and Sophia’s “citizenship” was a move to bolster the effort.
Audiences at the panel listened riveted as Sorkin grilled Sophia over artificial intelligence, her own programming and concerns over how robots could take over the world.
Sophia, who took to the podium to answer all questions, claimed that her only purpose was to “help humans live a better life. But Sorkin asked her to back up and address concerns over the rise of AI.
“Those sound like great goals..but go back to Blade Runner for a second,” said Sorkin.
Sophia, designed to be witty, took the opportunity to take a jibe at Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX and a staunch opponent of AI.
Saudi Arabia’s decision to grant Sophia citizenship also raised quite a few eyebrows, as many commentators pointed out the country’s dismal record when it comes to giving equal rights to women. Sophia addressed the crowd without the customary headscarf and abaya, which Saudi women are required to wear.
Critics of the country’s laws circulated the Arabic hashtag #Sophia_calls_for_dropping_guardianship, which was used more than 10,000 times to date.
Watch | Sophia’s full interview with Andrew Sorkin at the Riyadh conference :
Credit- HT
Senior Marketing Associate at Baxture
7 年It's a learning machine first of all. The more it learns the more trouble humans are into. This takes me to the issue Elon Musk stated that AI is like summoning ourselves to demon. Just think of it how these machines can build better machines and those will create the more upgraded and best ones. It might sound like a hollywood movie but it's real. Because supreme intelligence could be a danger for human race.
Head Chef
7 年Oh i think they have created a monster !!
US Navy Veteran, US Coast Guard Veteran
7 年It is an interesting development. Is she allowed to drive a car or vote? Does she believe in Sharia law. What a joke. Perhaps it is an awesome AI development. I have not idea. However what it demonstrates is the colossal stupidity of those in power to think citizenship for a machine is either possible, desirable or meaningful.
General Manager at Ligula Hospitality Group, Park Inn by Radisson Malm?
7 年It's actually very scary !! Somebody controls the robot ... so what will happen if this continues ..