Written by Kyra Kumar
Imagine a world where robots existed as our friends, teachers and even our doctors. Now more than ever, this hypothetical dream world isn’t some far fetched idea, but instead a very real possibility. The rapid development in the field of artificial intelligence and technology has lead to an ongoing debate regarding its ethical, environmental and social impact in the near future. Robots especially are an extremely controversial topic due to a lack of awareness about their abilities and their long list of pros and cons. A recent breakthrough in this field is the social humanoid robot Sophia, who was created by Hanson Robotics. Sophia is programmed with interactive technology that allows her to converse on pre-decided topics, develop a personality and even sing!
Since her activation in 2016, she has become an official citizen of Saudi Arabia, addressed the UNDP, appeared as a guest lecturer on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and attended multiple international conferences. Most recently, she was invited to the Round Square International Conference in Indore where, along with four other Pathwaysians, I was given the opportunity to attend a live interaction with her.
We were startled to learn that she is equipped with over 50 expressions, voice modulation and humour which contribute to her human-like persona. She addressed a variety of issues such as climate change and inequality, however, the primary focus of the conversation was on the benefits of artificial intelligence and why humanity should start imagining a world with robots as friends. To quote her, "Technology and artificial intelligence can help us take a big leap in ending poverty, hunger, ensuring better health, fighting corruption and ensuring gender equality." Furthermore, she argued against the common notion that robots may attempt to conquer the world one day by asserting that robots were invented to complete, improve and help humanity. However, after a while, it became quite evident that a majority of her responses were programmed due to extensive repetition and minor technical glitches.
This interaction was further discussed in our Barazza sessions, where we debated a variety of perspectives regarding the future of artificial intelligence. While many delegates asserted that we should embrace the technological revolution and maximize the potential of technology, others were rather cautious or intimidated by the hypothetical flaws such as increased unemployment due to AI taking over skilled labour, increased development gap, lack of a human connection and, robots taking over the world!
To conclude, here are some opinions from across the world on what students think of artificial intelligence and their interaction with Sophia:
“I personally feel that AI can do a lot of good, however, it needs to be controlled by the correct people to avoid power struggles and corruption”
- Isabella Keogh from St Stithians Girls’ College, South Africa.
“It is startling that in our current world a humanoid has obtained citizenship whereas humans themselves are facing so much inequality. The focus on the development of technology is far too much and our world isn’t ready for it yet.”
- Ilona Gibier, College Alpin Beau Soleil, Mexico
“I think it Sophia embodies great progress in the field of AI and demonstrates how inventions can help the world combat climate change and environmental issues”
- Nora Gemez, College Alpin Beau Soleil, Mexico
“It was interesting to see that AI is advancing so fast, however, the entire interaction felt rather scripted which just demonstrates that we have a long way to go before we reach our end goal.”
- Morgan Gutzwiller, The Athenian School, USA.
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