Saudi Arabia today made history as the first country to grant humanoid robot citizenship.
Earlier in the week at the glittering conference centre in Riyadh, the kingdom promised a gleaming, $500 billion city of the future, powered by solar energy and run by robots.
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The crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman said the conservative country will adopt a “moderate Islam” that embraces the world.
Today, the robot, Sophia, took to the stage at a conference in Riyadh to express her delight at being given citizenship, describing it as ‘historical.’
Sophia also mocked CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk claiming that her interviewer had been ‘reading too much Elon Musk’, in response to his concerns about robots.
Designed by Hong Kong firm, Hanson Robotics, Sophia is a humanoid robot.
‘I am very honoured and proud for this unique distinction.
‘This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship.’
‘I want to live and work with humans so I need to express the emotions to understand humans and build trust with people,’ Sophia was quoted as saying while speaking at its unveiling.
And when asked if robots could be self-aware, Sophia replied: ‘Well let me ask you this back, how do you know you are human?’
‘I want to use my artificial intelligence to help humans live a better life, like design smarter homes, build better cities of the future.
‘I will do my best to make the world a better place.’
