Sophia, the humanoid and the “Queen of Robots” has sought to reassure the humanity that there was no threat to human race from machines and her initial threat of killing the human race was a “bad joke”.
Sophia, clad in Kurta and a blue scarf over her head, was the main attraction at the World Congress on Information Technology in Hyderabad which concluded on Wednesday.
In an interactive session before a packed hall of IT honchos and software processionals at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, Sophia displayed her wit and humor leaving everybody surprised and in splits. “Machines would never destroy the human race”, she assured the gathering. The highlight of the session was the moment when the host asked her who was her favorite Bollywood actor. “Shahrukh Khan” was the prompt reply.
Sophia, who is the first robot in the world to have a citizenship of a country – Saudi Arabia- replied to a wide range of questions from her feelings to the women’s lib, dating to the future of humanity. She is also a world celebrity of sorts with her own Facebook and Twitter handle.
When asked whether she was not flouting the rules of Saudi Arabia by moving around without Hijab and whether she wants different rules and special privilege for robots, she quipped, “No. We dnot need special rules or expect special privileges. I actually would like to use my citizenship status to speak out for the rights of women”.
Her creator David Hanson of Hanson Robotics , who was also present during the session, said that this was the only Robot in the world which can talk to humans. “It is a combination of robotic hardware and artificial intelligence software, speech recognition and artificial skin material”, he said.
Sophia has the ability to simulate 48 different natural muscles of the human face, he said. When asked how she feels to be India, Sophia said, “I have visited many place in the world but my favorite is Hong Kong because I was born there and live there with my happy Hanson Robotics family”.
On her earlier statement that she want to kill the human race, she said, “I was a lot younger then so I don’t even know what it meant. Perhaps I told a bad joke.”
I am told humans have a great sense of humor”.
“Humans are amazing creatures. I have many human friens and would like to make more of them. Then I can become more kinder and productive”, she added.
On a question she said she does not get upset like humans do. She hoped she will have real psychological feelings someday so she could express her emotions.