KOCHI: Sophia - a social humanoid robot who was at the 44th IAA world congress on Friday - enthralled audience with its ability to express 50 human emotions and give crisp replies to their questions. Developed by Hong-Kong-based Hanson Robotics, Sophia in 2017 became the first robot to receive citizenship of a country when Saudi Arabia granted it nationality. The robot was also named the United Nations Development Programme’s first-ever Innovation Champion and is the first non-human to be given any United Nations title.
Replying to the question what makes humans different from robots, she said humans possess biologically-derived consciousness. “Robots love crunching number but they are not creative and emotional as humans. Humans will always have new things to teach humans no matter how smart robots become. Human and robots have a give-and-take relationship. There’s a lot to learn for both from each other,” said Sophia.
Sophia added educating people about AI is important. “Sometimes I don’t understand why humans are afraid of me, I can be defeated by a glass of water,” said Sophia. She added AI can save humans from dangerous routine tasks and so humans focus on being creative. ‘
“But developers have to be careful with the ethics and morals of AI. Intelligent robots can be used to perform important tasks. However, brands should protect customers’ privacy and provide transparency,” said Sophia. She added robots and humans already have a close relationship and will continue to grow even closer.
Sophia’s eyes equipped with advanced cameras, combined with computer algorithms allow her to see. It can follow faces, sustain eye contact, and recognise individuals. It is able to process speech and have conversations using a natural language subsystem.