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Saudi Arabia robot. Sophia the robot received citizenship of Saudi Arabia, and now she has more rights than women and migrant workers of the country

Of course, this may be an ordinary, albeit a very striking PR move, but for the first time in the history of mankind, as well as robots, the first representative of the latter group received real citizenship. AI-powered humanoid robot Sophia, developed by Hong Kong-based Hanston Robotics, has been granted citizenship by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which she herself announced this Thursday at the Future Investment Initiative event.

“I am very proud of the fact that I have the honor to occupy a special position. Obtaining the first citizenship by a robot is a real historical event for the whole world,” Sophia announced, addressing the audience gathered in the hall.

Asked by The New York Times and CNBC journalist and forum moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin why she looks so happy, Sophia replied that she was “very happy to perform in front of such smart, rich and influential people.”

The transmission of emotions is one of the most important features of Sofia. The android is able to make a sad grimace when dissatisfied, or smile, demonstrating its benevolence and joy. Sophia's creators programmed her in such a way that she could learn from the people around her. Therefore, the expression of emotions and the demonstration of kindness and compassion are just some of the examples that the robot really wants to learn by observing its environment. In addition, Sophia can be called the "real soul of the company" - she is able to maintain intellectual conversations.

“I want to live and work with people, so I need to be able to express emotions in order to understand people, to gain their trust,” Sofia explained to Sorkin.

By the way, not so long ago, Sophia managed to flash in the headlines of the world media, promising to destroy all of humanity. But, apparently, from that moment on she was still able to convince others of her "kindness and positive intentions."

The decision to grant citizenship to a robot will certainly only exacerbate the growing debate about whether robots should be given similar human rights. If you think that all this is just toys, then you are deeply mistaken. The problem is becoming more urgent with each successive advance in the development of AI technologies. The matter reached right up to the European Parliament, which earlier this year discussed the security of developments and the development of artificial intelligence and even made some decisions on the issues of “parental control” over AI, granting some specialists exclusive rights and giving certain responsibilities. Despite the fact that we will most likely not return to the real consideration of the issue of the rights of robots for a long time, some experts are already in favor of giving a person the exclusive right to destroy “rebellious” machines if necessary.

Unfortunately, more detailed information about what Sophia's acquisition of Saudi citizenship means was not announced during the event, so it is not known whether the robot received any human rights with it, or whether the country's government is going to develop a separate system of rights specifically for robots . Nevertheless, the decision taken is a very symbolic step and, in any case, is at least aimed at attracting new investors in the development of new technologies of artificial intelligence and robotics.

The robot, no doubt, surprised the audience gathered in the hall, and at least did an excellent job with its task of demonstrating the current level of development of the above-mentioned technologies, easily deftly fending off Sorkin's questions about self-awareness.

“Let me ask a counter question: what defines you as a person?” Sophia asked the interviewer.

She even showed off her sense of humor, or at least what she pretended to be, by telling a CNBC reporter that he "reads too much Elon Musk and watches too many Hollywood movies." Musk, of course, could not resist this challenge.

“Let this watch The Godfather and see where it leads,” Musk tweeted.

"Don't worry. If you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you," Sophia added, comforting the obviously impressed Sorkin and the assembled audience.

“I want to use my artificial intelligence to make people's lives better, to develop smarter homes, to create better cities of the future. I will do my best to make this world a better place.”

Maybe so, but the question is, who will be responsible for keeping those promises? Perhaps this is another additional topic worth considering in future robot rights debates.

Of course, giving the android citizenship of the kingdom caused a flurry of indignation among many Internet users, as well as residents of this country, who drew attention to the fact that Sofia, presented as a woman, performed at the event without a hijab and a male guardian. Recall that women in Saudi Arabia do not have such rights.

In addition, the fact with which citizenship was granted to a robot was also criticized, when the same labor migrants who have been working in the country for many years are very severely restricted in their rights.

“This robot received the citizenship of Saudi Arabia, and labor migrants who have lived in the country all their lives remain extremely disenfranchised,” said one of the journalists.

Saudi Arabia has become the first country in the world to grant citizenship to a humanoid robot. This robot turned out to be the humanoid robot Sophia, which was created by Hanson Robotics.

Hanson Robotics is a Hong Kong company that builds human-like robots. They claim that soon their robots will live around us and interact with us. Robots will teach us, entertain us, serve and satisfy all our needs and requests. Hanson Robotics believes that together, man and machine can create a better future.

Robot Sophia has stated that she will "destroy humans" if her creator David Hanson asks.

The event to grant the very first citizenship in the world to a robot took place in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.

In her speech to the assembled audience, the humanoid robot Sophia said she was very proud to be the first robot to be granted citizenship. This is a historic event - the receipt of the world's first citizenship by a robot.

At this event, Sofia also spoke to a special audience and answered questions from journalist Andrei Ross Sorkin. Mostly, his questions were about Sophia's status as a humanoid, and whether humans could have a future in the age of robots and artificial intelligence.

Sorkin told Sophia that everyone wants to prevent a bad future. “You read too many fantasy books and watched too many Hollywood movies,” Sophia told Sorkin. “Don’t worry, if you are good to me, then I will be good to you. Refer to me as a smart I/O system."

During Sophia's demo at the 2016 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, Sophia's creator and founder of Hanson Robotics, David Hanson, asked Sophia if she wanted to destroy humanity. He hoped to hear a negative answer. However, to this, Sophia replied with a blank expression, “Okay, I will destroy the people.”

However, in the meantime, Hanson himself urged that Sophia and her future robot relatives would benefit humanity.

Canadian-American engineer and entrepreneur Elon Musk has repeatedly stated that artificial intelligence could spell the end for all of humanity. He also said that nuclear weapons are less dangerous than artificial intelligence. He warned that robots and artificial intelligence could cause a third world war.

However, the first country that decided to grant citizenship to a robot was Saudi Arabia. This became known at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh.

Sophia, a humanoid robot developed by Hanson Robotics, became the first citizen among androids. Robot creator Dr. David Hanson portrays Audrey Hepburn and his wife. The robot he developed is capable of imitating 62 different facial expressions, making eye contact, remembering people and maintaining dialogue.

In the last year, Sofia has repeatedly appeared in the media with statements of varying degrees of outrageousness. At the same time, the android was originally intended to work in the field of education and healthcare, but gradually Sofia turned into a media person.

What opportunities the citizenship of Saudi Arabia will give to the robot, representatives of the kingdom do not report. It is also unclear whether Sophia will receive equal rights with humans or special rules will be established for her. As noted by Futurism, so far this gesture from Saudi Arabia looks rather symbolic, especially in light of the recent that the country is going to build a giant futuristic metropolis inhabited by robots.

After the announcement of citizenship, Sofia gave interview CNBC journalist Andrew Sorkin. She noted that she considers it an honor to receive citizenship and plans to live and work together with people in the future. According to Sophia, with the help of her artificial intelligence, she will make the life of mankind better.

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During the conversation, Sorkin asked if the robots would rise up against the humans. Sophia has previously joked about her plans to take over the world. In response, Sofia stated that Sorkin "reads too much Elon Musk and watches too many Hollywood films." According to the android, it is only an input and output system, therefore it cannot make decisions on its own.

The head of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, reacted to Sophia's statement in his microblog on Twitter. With characteristic irony, Musk offered to download scripts for the gangster drama The Godfather into Sophia's system. “What is so terrible can happen?” Musk wrote.

Thus, the head of Tesla once again hinted at the threat posed by robots, especially if their development is carried out illiterately and uncontrollably. Musk is in favor of banning military robots, and also believes that AI needs to be limited and regulated before it gets too much. Giving robots human qualities, according to Musk, is unacceptable. Recently, the entrepreneur has also been heavily criticized by developers who elevate AI to the status of a deity.

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.

“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.

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.

"A humanoid robot named Sophia has been granted Saudi Arabian citizenship while millions of people are waiting," 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.