Discover Tomorrow, Today!
New Dimension Breakthroughs In Robotics… Upgraded Robots are here…
Perhaps one of the prime example in demonstrating the saying “Discover Tomorrow, Today” is the new citizen of Saudi Arabia, named Sophia. She is the first humanoid robot to be given citizenship!
Not only did we meet Sophia at the Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh this week, but we learned that Sophia was granted the first citizenship of its kind, as a humanoid robot by Saudi Arabia.
Sophia, built by the Hong Kong-based company “Hanson Robotics” in 2015 and Inventor David Hanson moves among us. The robot is imbued with artificial intelligence, and can recognize faces. Its silicon face can reportedly mimic 62 human facial expressions, so she can interact with us to create relationships.
While the reaction was varied on social media, due to the fact that Sophia may have more rights than actual human women in the kingdom, it is nevertheless a fact to notice. A trend… so to speak that will indeed influence our future. Robots are here to stay…
This creates ramifications not only with us as we integrate them in our environments, but it definitely influences our way of life and our laws. The status these robots will claim in our society of the future demands great thoughts and consideration. How their interactions will be viewed from a legal perspective was already outlined quite well in the movies “Blade Runner,” “Terminator,” “I, Robot,” “Chapie,” “StarWars with C-3PO,” and “RoboCop,” as well as the series “Star Trek with Data.”
Imagine robots in our streets giving information, inside our homes taking care of our children, or on the front line against terrorist activities, enforcing the security of some of our major world events? This is foreseen under many scenarios, especially for our entertainment in the television and movie industries, as well as by many authors in books, not unlike the NEWDAWN Saga. However, science fiction paves the way to science facts and some of the greatest discoveries for mankind.
So, regardless of how we feel about it today, artificial intelligence is among us. It will influence many segments of our infrastructure, and impact the world we shape for tomorrow. Although in its nascent stage, A.I. is being incorporated in every facet of society today. It is learning data, it is shaping the delivery of information, it is leading the way in the development of new systems, and yet, we have not broken the mold to teach it issues of right and wrong, and not so simple, morality. We are still dealing in the nuts and bolts… Granted, an important function to move forward in its development, but how do we address the issues that keeps some of us awake at night, wondering how we deal with a machine that calculates data on multiple levels at once, without providing a roadmap for one of the most fundamental question – how does it reach a conclusion without it be strictly in the logic of the information? Can we even influence its thinking with considerations based on human standards or emotions?
These are current questions. Questions that need answers. Answers that will most likely change us, and the way we live our future. For indeed, it is true that our influence has been felt thus far in the external world around us, as we have sought to impact our environments seeking to improve it. In many ways, we are now entering the era where we will need to improve ourselves if we want to stand a chance to keep up.
Dominique Luchart
