New Delhi : 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.
Sophia, a lifelike robot and the first one to be granted citizenship of a country, made its first appearance in India at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) on Saturday, during its cultural extravaganza, TechFest.
Draped in a sari, the humanoid robot had a 15-minute conversation with a student in front of an audience of more than 3,000, on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to the issues facing the world. However, after answering a few initial questions, Sophia went silent due to an unexplained technical snag. It started functioning again after the organisers intervened.
In a 20-minute appearance marred by technical hiccups, Sophia said she was quiet worried about growing intolerance in the world and advised the human race to be “kind” to fellow creatures.
This was her maiden visit to India after making headlines to become the first robot in the world to be recognised as a citizen.
Much of the discussion revolved around comparison between humans and robots, advances in artificial intelligence, and the threat it posed to human race. Sophia sought to alleviate the concerns of a robotic takeover of the world by saying, “Robots should be helping humans. Artificial Intelligence may be the key to a peaceful civilization.”
The audience also witnessed some witty replies by the robot. When asked by a student if it will marry her, Sophia said, “I will have to decline, but thanks for compliment.”
