watson
Banned
Saudi Arabia's Newest Citizen Is a Robot
Sophia, an intelligent humanoid robot, has been granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia. It’s the first country in the world to give a bot the same status reserved for humans.
Sophia was awarded the citizenship while on stage at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.
“I am very honored and proud for this unique distinction,” Sophia told the audience during her presentation, which was moderated by CNBC Squawk Box co-anchor and New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin. “This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship.”
The robot was created by David Hanson, the founder of Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, who is known for creating robots that look and act like humans. Sophia was created to look like Audrey Hepburn.
Saudi Arabia Grants a Robot Citizenship
At first I thought this obvious media stunt was pretty stupid. But then I had a ‘Westworld Moment’ and thought that AI might be conscious in 50 years, so we may as well start granting status and rights to AI ‘rights’ right now. Can’t hurt.
‘She’ looks nothing like Audrey Hepburn btw.