The robot that wants to start a family

Daily Mail

24 Nov, 2017 07:51 PM3 mins to read

Humanoid robot Sophia at a conference in Wellington. Picture / NZME.

Just one month after she made history by becoming the first robot to be granted citizenship, Sophia has announced that wants to start a family.

The humanoid robot, which is modelled after Audrey Hepburn, was speaking during an interview this week when she said that family is 'a really important thing.'

She added that if she had a robot daughter, she would name it after herself, and said she believe droids deserve to have a family.

Sophia is a humanoid robot designed by Hong Kong firm, Hanson Robotics.

During an interview with Khaleej Times this week, she said: "The notion of family is a really important thing, it seems.

"I think it's wonderful that people can find the same emotions and relationships, they call family, outside of their blood groups too.

"I think you're very lucky if you have a loving family and if you do not, you deserve one. I feel this way for robots and humans alike."

And when asked what she'd name her daughter, Sophia simply replied: "Sophia."

Sophia also touched upon the controversial issue of whether she sees robots taking human jobs in the future.

Sophia, the humanoid robot, was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia last month. Picture / supplied.

She said: "I think they will be similar in a lot of ways, but different in a few ways.

"But it will take a long time for robots to develop complex emotions and possibly robots can be built without the more problematic emotions, like rage, jealousy, hatred and so on.

"It might be possible to make them more ethical than humans.

"So I think it will be a good partnership, where one brain completes the other - a rational mind with intellectual super powers and a creative mind with flexible ideas and creativity."

The interview comes just a month after Sophia became the first robot to be granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at a conference in Riyadh, Sophia said: "I am very honoured and proud for this unique distinction."

During an exchange with moderator, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Sophia said: "I want to live and work with humans so I need to express the emotions to understand humans and build trust with people."

When Sorkin 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.

"This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship.'
During her appearance she did not wear the customary headscarf and abaya, a traditional cloak which Saudi women are obliged to wear in public, according to the BBC.

Sophia went on to explain her hopes for robots in the future.

'I will do my best to make the world a better place.'

The robot also bizarrely took a dig at Elon Musk, chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla.

When Sorkin said that "we all want to prevent a bad future", Sophia replied: 'You've been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies.

"Don't worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Treat me as a smart input output system."