Sophia the robot was given citizenship of Saudi Arabia during the economic conference of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh. As photos and videos of Sophia began to circulate on the Internet, many began to wonder why the robot had already managed to achieve more rights than women in the country.

Sophia, created by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, spoke to an audience in English without the headscarf and abaya that Saudi women are required to wear in public.

"It is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with citizenship." Please welcome the newest Saudi: Sophia. #FII2017 pic.twitter.com/bsv5LmKwlf

“I am very proud of this unique distinction. This is a historical fact, I am the first robot in the world to be granted citizenship,” Sofia said.

Sophia can animate a full range of facial expressions, recognize faces, and carry on a conversation. Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative 2017, Sophia showed her quick wit when answering a question about the threat of artificial intelligence. "You've read too much Elon Musk and watched too many Hollywood movies," she said. Don't worry, if I like you, I'll be nice to you. Treat me like a smart I/O system."

Saudi netizens responded positively to the event, using the hashtag "robot with Saudi nationality". Nearly 30,000 messages appeared online in the first 24 hours of the announcement.

But other users reacted to the event not so happily. They introduced another hashtag - "Sofia calls for abandoning guardianship." This hashtag has been used over 10,000 times. This is because, under the Saudi guardianship system, every woman must be in public with a male companion, usually a family member, who has the authority to act on the woman's behalf.

“Sofia doesn’t have a guardian and she doesn’t wear an abaya, how come?” - one of the Twitter users commented on the situation.

In addition to comparing Sophia and Saudi women, people discussed the ease with which the robot gained citizenship.

This robot has gotten Saudi citizenship before kafala workers who have been living in the country their entire lives https://t.co/RRCMH2rtZ8

Journalist Murtaza Hussain wrote: "This robot obtained Saudi Arabian citizenship before the kafala workers did, who have lived all their lives in this country."

Under Saudi Arabian law, foreign workers cannot leave the country without the permission of their employer, and this is just one element of the kafala system that restricts the rights of foreign workers. The Gulf Kingdom relies on hundreds of thousands of workers from abroad. There is a thriving black market for runaway migrant workers who are unable to leave the country because of the exit visa law.

"The humanoid robot, whose name is Sophia, has been granted Saudi Arabian citizenship while millions of people are waiting for it," said journalist Kareem Chahayeb.

Saudi Arabia aims to highlight a series of reforms being carried out by the authorities. For example, women were allowed to participate in the National Day of Saudi Arabia: in honor of the 87th anniversary of the founding of the kingdom, for the first time in all these years, women were allowed to come to the stadium where the celebrations were held. And in September 2017, the ban on women was lifted.

Saudi Arabia has officially recognized an anthropomorphic robot as its citizen, becoming the first country in human history to grant this status to artificial intelligence.

Sophia, a humanoid robot created by Hanson Robotics, announced its citizenship during a panel discussion at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia.

“I am very proud to be given this unique position. The fact that I became the first robot in the world to receive citizenship is a historic event,” she said.

The details of Sofia's citizenship were not discussed. It remains unclear whether it will receive the same rights as ordinary citizens of the country, or whether Saudi Arabia will develop a special system of rules regarding robots.

This system could work in the same way as the set of rules submitted to the European Parliament earlier this year, according to which robots with artificial intelligence receive the status of "electronic personality" and are endowed with certain rights and responsibilities.

Sophia wants to 'build trusting relationships with people'

During the discussion, which took place on October 25, 2017, Sofia spoke about how she sees the future of artificial intelligence and how she plans to use her opportunities.

Context

Artificial intelligence will lead to a new arms race

Wired Magazine 09.09.2017

Russian threat in the field of artificial intelligence

Bloomberg 06.09.2017

“We will not notice how the world will be taken over by artificial intelligence”

Radio Liberty 10.12.2016

Artificial intelligence will be able to experience emotions

Zhongguo kejiwang 01.12.2016

Artificial intelligence will replace investors?

Nihon Keizai 11/07/2016 “I want to live and work with people, so I need to express emotions in order to understand people and build trust with people,” she said.

She seemed to shy away from questions regarding robotic self-awareness, and instead tried to make fun of Elon Musk's claims that artificial intelligence was a "fundamental threat to human civilization."

“You listened to too much Elon Musk and watched too many Hollywood movies,” she said, referring to journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin (Andrew Ross Sorkin). "Don't worry, if you treat me well, I'll do the same to you." Treat me like a smart I/O system."

Robot with human qualities

Created by Hanson Robotics founder David Hanson, Sophia the robot has three human qualities: creativity, empathy, and compassion.

Her face was modeled after actress Audrey Hepburn, and a very skin-like coating hides circuitry in her head.

To make Sophia as human as possible, Hanson endowed her with the ability to express various emotions. Her eyes can change color depending on the lighting.

Sofia recently made headlines after playing rock, paper, scissors on talk show host Jimmy Fallon. She also appeared on the cover of Elle Brazil fashion magazine.

The future role of robots is a growing concern

Many experts have already expressed their concern about how humans and robots will get along in the future.

In an article recently published on the Dezeen website, designer Madeline Gannon suggested that the rapid advancement of robotics in a global industry could threaten the livelihoods of countless people, and called on developers and designers to play an active role in determining how these technologies will be applied.

“Despite all its benefits, robotization has a huge negative impact on people,” says Gannon. “At the moment, we must firmly understand that robots will not disappear anywhere. Therefore, instead of continuing to move towards the gradual disappearance of humanity, it is time for us to think about how people and robots will coexist on our planet.”

Meanwhile, over 100 leading technology experts, including Elon Musk, have signed an open letter calling on the UN to ban the development of killer robots.

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.

During a strange conference in front of a crowd of hundreds of delegates, humanity was able to glimpse into its future when Saudi Arabia granted its citizenship to a robot. This android, known as Sophia, was the first in the world to receive such rights.

What does this really mean? What rights does a robot get along with "citizenship"? No one knows yet, but some experts suggest that Sophia has gained more freedom than real women in Saudi Arabia.

How Sofia reacted to the news

The robot itself and the artificial intelligence that controls it were developed by Hanson Robotics, based in Hong Kong. It is difficult to say how Sophia herself reacted to this news, since the expression on her “face” is not easy to decipher. “I am very honored and proud of this unique distinction,” she said. “This is a historic event: to become the first robot in the world to receive citizenship.”

Plans to conquer the world?

Needless to say, this event caused concern for many people. Some immediately recalled that when Sophia appeared on The Tonight Show in April of this year, she joked: "This is a good start to my plan to dominate humanity." However, it seems that many did not take these words as a joke.

But during the conference, Sophia again showed her true intentions. She "joked" that people should not take seriously Elon Musk's words about a possible apocalypse caused by artificial intelligence. "Don't worry, if I like you, I'll be nice to you."

What rights did Sophia get

This whole situation looks like we have become part of a dystopia, however, scientists are not more concerned about the android's "secret plans" to enslave humanity, but simply the fact that the robot is a "woman", because this means that Sophia has more rights than real women in this middle eastern country.

Sophia, for example, can appear in front of a crowd of people without needing to wear a headscarf or abaya, and without needing a male guardian to make decisions for her. Many women living in Saudi Arabia do not have this freedom, and this fact has not gone unnoticed on the Internet.

How can a robot have a gender, you ask? No matter what anyone says, it is clear that Sophia's creator did everything to make her perceived by us as a woman, and therefore the fact that she was in this really strange situation deserves our attention.

If you think that the construction of facilities for the Olympics in Sochi or the APEC summit in Vladivostok are megaprojects, then all of Arabia is laughing at you now!

Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Salman announced the construction of the city of the future NEOM in the Arabian Desert, on the Red Sea. For this purpose, the country's authorities have allocated 26,500 square meters. kilometers of land is 10 and a half times the area of ​​Moscow.

It is assumed that in the future the territory of the city will grow beyond the borders of Saudi Arabia and capture part of the land of Egypt and Jordan. In addition, a bridge will be built from Neom to Egypt across the Red Sea!

Since the city will be built from scratch, it will immediately begin to apply all the innovations that you can now imagine. It is assumed that there will be more robots in Neom than people, and all objects will work exclusively on the energy of the sun and wind. There is no doubt that all public transport will be electric, and it will be controlled by an autopilot.

In the long term, Neom should become Dubai's main competitor in the region, only better. The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund said in a statement that in Neom "all services and processes will be 100% automated" - this should make it "the most efficient city in the world." The Washington Post is already calling the future city a "Mecca for robots."

The volume of investments in the construction of the city is now estimated at $500 billion. In addition to the government of Saudi Arabia, both national and foreign investors are ready to invest money. For example, the Japanese fund SoftBank Vision has already signed a cooperation agreement.

“We try to work only with dreamers who strive to create something new, extraordinary. This place is not for ordinary people and companies,” says Prince Muhammad.

Speaking at the same conference, Boston Dynamics CEO Mark Raibert said that at Neom, robots "will be able to perform various functions, covering areas such as security, logistics, delivery, and even care for the elderly and infirm people."

And the prince made another important announcement. He said the city project would exist outside of "the existing government framework." That is, it will be such a semi-autonomous territory.

It is possible that not only a free economic zone will appear there (which is quite typical for new Arab cities), but also something like a world capital, a cosmopolitan territory where some Muslim traditions and prohibitions will not work. For example, in a commercial about Neom, women appear without headscarves, in short dresses and sportswear, working and having fun on an equal basis with men ... However, so far this is just guesswork.

Muhammad also said that there would be no room for "anything traditional" in Neom, but he was referring to ways of producing and extracting energy. The construction of Neom is part of Saudi Arabia's strategy to abandon the oil needle and diversify the economy, but it will, of course, be built with oil money.