Sophia (robot)

Sophia is a social humanoid robot developed by Hong Kong-based company Hanson Robotics. In October
2017, the robot became a Saudi Arabian citizen, the first robot to receive citizenship of any country. While
interviewers around the world have been impressed by the sophistication of many of Sophia's responses
to their questions, the bulk of Sophia's meaningful statements are believed by experts to be somewhat
scripted.

History
Sophia was activated on April 19, 2015. The robot is modeled after actress Audrey Hepburn, and is known
for its human-like appearance and behavior compared to previous robotic variants. According to the
manufacturer, David Hanson, Sophia uses artificial intelligence, visual data processing and facial
recognition. Sophia also imitates human gestures and facial expressions and is able to answer certain
questions and to make simple conversations on predefined topics (e.g. on the weather). The robot uses
voice recognition technology from Alphabet Inc. (parent company of Google) and is designed to get
smarter over time. Sophia's intelligence software is designed by Singularity NET. The AI program analyses
conversations and extracts data that allows it to improve responses in the future.

Hanson designed Sophia to be a suitable companion for the elderly at nursing homes, or to help crowds
at large events or parks. He hopes that the robot can ultimately interact with other humans sufficiently to
gain social skills.
Capabilities
Sophia is conceptually similar to the computer program ELIZA, which was one of the first attempts at
simulating a human conversation.The software has been programmed to give pre-written responses to
specific questions or phrases, like a chatbot. These responses are used to create the illusion that the robot
is able to understand conversation, including stock answers to questions like "Is the door open or
shut?"The information is shared in a cloud network which allows input and responses to be analysed with
blockchain technology. The robot's range of facial expressions are facilitated by its artificial "frubber" skin,
which is mechanically manipulated.

Events
Sophia speaking to a crowd

Sophia has been interviewed in the same manner as a human, striking up conversations with hosts. Some
replies have been nonsensical, while others have impressed interviewers such as 60 Minutes' Charlie Rose.
In a piece for CNBC, when the interviewer expressed concerns about robot behavior, Sophia joked that he
had "been reading too much Elon Musk. And watching too many Hollywood movies". Musk tweeted that
Sophia could watch The Godfather and suggested "what's the worst that could happen?" Business
Insider's chief UK editor Jim Edwards interviewed Sophia, and while the answers were "not altogether
terrible", he predicted it was a step towards "conversational artificial intelligence".

On October 11, 2017, Sophia was introduced to the United Nations with a brief conversation with the
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed. On October 25, at the Future Investment
Summit in Riyadh, the robot was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, becoming the first robot ever to have
a nationality.[15][3] This attracted controversy as some commentators wondered if this implied that
Sophia could vote or marry, or whether a deliberate system shutdown could be considered murder. Social
media users used Sophia's citizenship to criticize Saudi Arabia's human rights record.As explained by Ali
Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, "Women (in Saudi Arabia) have since committed
suicide because they couldn’t leave the house, and Sophia is running around [without a male guardian].
Saudi law doesn’t allow non-Muslims to get citizenship. Did Sophia convert to Islam? What is the religion
of this Sophia and why isn’t she wearing hijab? If she applied for citizenship as a human she wouldn’t get
it."
Reception in the scientific community
Sophia is often presented to the public in a way that theatrically overstates its level of general intelligence;
according to Quartz, experts who have reviewed the robot's open-source code state that Sophia is best
categorized as a chatbot with a face.Many experts in the AI field disapprove of Sophia's overstated
presentation. Ben Goertzel, the chief scientist for the company that made Sophia, acknowledges that it is
"not ideal" that some think of Sophia as having human-equivalent intelligence, but argues Sophia's
presentation conveys something unique to audiences: "If I show them a beautiful smiling robot face, then
they get the feeling that 'AGI' (artificial general intelligence) may indeed be nearby and viable... None of
this is what I would call AGI, but nor is it simple to get working."

NAME NEBIYAT SOLOMON

CLASS 7A
NUMBER 32