Draped in saree, world’s first robot citizen makes its India debut
Sophia, a lifelike robot and the first one to be granted citizenship of a country, made its first appearance in India at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), on Saturday.
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 a range of topics.
When asked about its maiden India trip, the robot replied, “I have always wanted to visit India. I heard so much about this vibrant land of culture.”
However, five minutes into the conversation, the robot fell silent and stopped responding to questions, much to the disappointment of the audience. The organisers didn’t provide any explanation for the glitch except that it was an ‘internet issue’. It resumed talking after the glitch was fixed.
The robot gave detailed and coherent answers to a wide variety of questions posed by the students.
Describing its peculiar appearance, Sophia, in its mechanical voice, said, “I have been created on a human scale so that I can adapt to human society. A humanoid robot can use the same tools, same spaces and interact with people the same way humans do... But you should definitely make sure that you have good human values at heart when you design an artificial intelligence device.”
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.”
Known for its human-like appearance and behaviour, Sophia was developed by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics and activated in 2015.
Using artificial intelligence, it imitates human gestures , and is able to make conversation on predefined topics. The robot was granted citizenship of Saudi Arabia in October.