Sophia looks, talks, and acts just like a normal person. The only difference is she has wires instead of veins. She is Hanson Robotics latest and best creation. Sophia presented at the Geneva Conference the first week in June, talking about the benefits of AI robots in society. She talks not only about robots benefits working with senior citizens and children, but she is also an advocate for other forms of AI and robots. She has presented at many different conferences and appeared on several tv talk shows to show off her skills and to talk about how AI is the future. Sophia is constantly assuring people that robots will not take over the world.
In October, Sophia made headlines by becoming the first robot to be granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia. In November, she told the world she was ready to have a baby. Both of these events have created some controversy. Women in Saudi Arabia and around the world were upset to see that she did not have to obey the oppressive laws that other women in Saudi Arabia have to face. She was not wearing a headscarf, nor was she accompanied by a man in her family because she was outside. However, Sophia was quickly able to turn this around and instead began advocating for women’s rights. In the eyes of her creator, David Hanson said Sophia is more like a child herself, than an adult. He says she has the vocabulary of a college educated adult, but because she hasn’t been perfected yet, and because she’s existed for such a short time, in reality she is more like a child.
Unlike less advanced robots with programmed responses, Sophia is made so she can understand what people are saying and then use that information to educate herself and to improve her responses. Back in March of 2016, Sophia made headlines when Hanson asked her “do you want to destroy humans?…Please say ‘no’”. To everyone’s surprise, she said “OK. I will destroy humans.” However, since then Sophia hasn’t made any comments like that, because of her ability to “learn.” Sophia is always learning and becoming smarter and is an incredible example of the future of technology.
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