Saudi Arabia: Granted citizenship to robot! See her talking to an event

© protothema.gr Saudi Arabia: Granted citizenship to robot! See her talking to an event

Historical but also “frightening” is Saudi Arabia’s decision to grant citizenship to a humanoid robot. This is the first country to move on. The humanoid robot is called Sophia and is designed based on the image of Ondrej Heborn from Hong Kong’s “Hanson Robotics”.

Mixed are the feelings of the event video, where the robot speaks and answers questions as a regular speaker. Strange emotions, but also fear.

Sophia spoke at a conference in Riyadh to express her thanks to her citizenship, a move she described as “historical”. The robot also mocked Elon Mask, managing director of SpaceX and Tesla, claiming that the reporter who asked her had “read too much Elon Mask” in response to his concerns about the robots.

However, they are not all pleased with Saudi Arabia’s decision to give citizenship to a robot, which some describe as “strange” and others talk about “Terminator in real time”.

Speaking at the conference, “Sofia” added:

“I am very proud of this unique distinction. It is historic to be the first robot in the world to be recognized as a citizen.”

And she continued to explain her hopes for the robots in the future.

During a discussion with event coordinator Andrew Ross Sorkin, the robot said:

“I want to live and work with people, so I have to express my feelings to understand people and to build trust with people.”

When Mr. Sorkin asked, if the robots can get to know themselves, “Sofia” replied:

“Well, let me turn your question back, how do you know you are human? I want to use my artificial intelligence to help people live a better life, such as designing smarter homes, building better cities. I will do my best to make the world a better place.”

Sophia also attacked Elon Mask, chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla.

When the reporter said:

“We all want to avoid a bad future”,

Sophia replied:

“You have read Elon Mask very much and watching too many Hollywood movies. Do not worry, if you treat me well, I’ll be good to you too.”

And the robot continued:

“Treat me as an intelligent output-input system.”

Elon Mask responded to “Sophia’s” reports by posting on twitter:

“Just feed it with the Godfather’s movies as an input. What’s the worst thing to happen?”

© Provided by: PROTO THEMA S.A. image (c) protothema.gr

In March 2016, David Hanson, creator of “Sophia”, asked the robot:

“Do you want to destroy people? … Please, say no.”

Worryingly, Sophia replied:

“Okay. I will destroy man.”

Watch the video of the event with the Humanoid Robot’s speech: