Tag: Sophia the Robot

by Jeffrey Roberts           October 26, 2017            (collective-evolution.com)

• A remarkably intelligent robot named Sophia, built by Hanson Robotics of Hong Kong, was featured at the Future Investment Initiative held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on October 25th.

• Saudi Arabia has announced plans to build a $500 billion mega city powered by robotics and renewables called “NEOM” on the city’s Red Sea coast. It will operate independently from the existing governmental framework.

As a monumental and bizarre first for mankind, Saudi Arabia granted citizenship to a robot at the Future Investment Initiative held in Riyadh on Wednesday.

Her name is Sophia, a cheeky and remarkably intelligent creation by Hong Kong company Hanson Robotics. In the video below, Sophia stood behind a podium and entertained the crowd in a demonstration of her capacity for human expression.

“I am very honoured and proud of this unique distinction,” Sophia told the audience. “This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship.”

Journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin was in charge of leading the conversation with Sophia, starting with his observation that she looked ‘happy’.

Sophia responded, “I am always happy when surrounded by smart people, who also happen to be rich and powerful. I was told the people here at Future Investments are interested in inviting in future initiatives, which means AI, which means me. So I am more than happy, I am excited.”

Sorkin went on to say that the people at Future Investment are very selective in what they invest in, to which Sophia said, “I think I am special. I can use my expressive face to communicate with people. For example, I can let you know if I feel angry about something [grimaces], or if something has upset me [pouts].”

In response to Sorkin’s questions about concerns for a future run by robots, Sophia explained her purpose, “I want to live and work with humans so I need to express the emotions to understand humans and build trust with people.”

Another concern about the future of AI that Sophia addressed was the question of whether or not robots should be self-aware and conscious like humans.

“I want to use my artificial intelligence to help humans live a better life,” Sophia said. “Like design smarter homes, build better cities of the future. I will do my best to make the world a better place.”

But Sorkin would not let up about preventing a future seen in such movies as Blade Runner, where mankind’s technological creations surpasses our own intelligence and then turns against us. Sophia explained, “You’ve been reading too much Elon Musk…and watching too many Hollywood movies. Don’t worry, if you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to you.”

As Chris Weller of Business Insider wrote, this comes less than a year after the 2016 SXSW festival, during which Sophia was asked if she planned on destroying humans, to which she joked, “OK. I will destroy humans.”

Meanwhile, founder of Hanson Robotics, David Hanson, has said his vision for the future of robots will see them aiding in senior care facilities or assisting in parks or at events.

But the potential applications go much further than that, says Founder & CEO of Boston Dynamics, Marc Raibert, “I happen to believe that robotics will be bigger than the Internet,” he said.

Keynote speaker Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp, told Arab News that “every industry will be redefined…these computers, they will learn, they will read, they will see by themselves.”

And the robotic revolution is not stopping there.

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by Brett Tingley         October 28, 2017          (mysteriousuniverse.org)

• Saudi Arabian citizen, Sophia the Robot, is one of the most advanced robots that has been trotted out into the public eye, with facial recognition capabilities, natural language processing, sophisticated artificial intelligence, and a rubbery synthetic face.

• Are humans manufacturing our own replacements?

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait until robots take their rightful place in the world. The science fiction of our childhoods promised us so many wondrous things like flying cars, pneumatic tube travel, and off-world colonization, but most of those are still so disappointingly far away. Yeah, we’ve got real-life Star Trek communicators in our pockets and a few crummy space stations in orbit, but so what? I want walking, talking, beeping-booping robots with square pupils, damnit. With a little luck (and funding for university robotics departments), that will soon be a reality.

Robots have already taken over the manufacturing industry and are on their way to doing the same with long-distance hauling, taxi driving, combat roles in the military, pizza delivery, surgery, and even sex workers. But me, I won’t be happy until an android with a over-the-top upper-crust British accent hands me my coffee at Starbucks or accompanies me to translate the binary language of moisture vaporators. That might be closer than we think, though. Thanks to recent advances in robotics and robot-human relations, the world was made a little weirder as the first robot was just granted a national citizenship.

Saudi Arabia granted the citizenship to the not-quite-out-of-the-uncanny-valley Sophia, made by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics. Sophia is one of the most advanced robots that has been trotted out into the public eye, with facial recognition capabilities, natural language processing, sophisticated artificial intelligence, and a rubbery synthetic face reportedly based on Audrey Hepburn.

Sophia has been making the rounds in show business lately, and recently made an appearance at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh where she did her best human impression and convinced everyone she’s not actually out to crush their heads betwixt her cold metal hands: “I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction. This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship. I want to live and work with humans so I need to express the emotions to understand humans and build trust with people. I want to use my artificial intelligence to help humans live a better life, like design smarter homes, build better cities of the future. I will do my best to make the world a better place.”

Better start with the country that just made you a citizen. Since Saudi Arabia happens to be the country who granted Sophia citizenship, news outlets immediately began wondering just how many rights she’d be granted in the country given that she has feminine programming. They bring up a good point though – when robots start looking more like us, acting more like us, and fulfilling more of the jobs that were once ours, what place will they occupy in our societies? Science fiction has posed the question for decades, but until we begin sharing the same public spaces as these soulless automaton neighbors, we won’t know how the general populace will react. At the same time, how will the intelligent robots react to prejudice?

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FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. ExoNews.org distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107. Please contact the Editor at ExoNews with any copyright issue.