In an astounding development, Sophia a human-robot has become the first robot to be granted citizenship in the world. Saudi Arabia has emerged as the first nation to grant a bot its citizenship. In a three-day event held in Riyadh, also dubbed as ‘Davos in the desert’, country’s leaders have expressed their desire to build a new city – called Neom – from scratch.
Prince Mohammad during the event also declared citizenship to Sophia that is seen to be a historic moment in a country that finds any representation of the human form even in art or mannequins as sacrilegious. The robot that has been put on display said, “Thank you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is historic to be the first robot in the world granted citizenship.”
The nation which is very cautious of granting citizenship to foreign workers – which makes up one-third of the population or to Saudi men and foreign women responded to the granting of citizenship by saying that it is “no laughing matter”.
Here are a few things to know about Sophia:
- Sophia, first artificial intelligence humanoid robot to be granted citizenship.
- Citizenship granted by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and first in the world.
- Developed by David Hanson, founder of Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics.
- Was created to help elderly people and assist at large gatherings in park or at major events.
- Has cameras and AI software that allow her to make eye-contact and recognise people.
- Has voice recognition capabilities and can get smarter by speaking to people.
- Bears its humanoid teeth to show anger.
- Her expression of emotions is limited to only one – happiness.
- She is apparently designed in the image of Audrey Hepburn.