Sophia, One of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots, whose name means ‘wisdom’ in Greek, is set to visit the Greece’s city of Nafpaktos to attend a panel titled artificial intelligence and ethics.
In October 2017, Sophia was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, becoming the first robot to receive legal personhood in any country.
It has been reported that the ‘Meet Sophia Conference’ will be taking place on March 10 at the Nafpaktos International Conference Center, which is housed within the Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ, in Skala Nafpaktia.
It is understood that the conference will feature participants from six countries, who will analyze, together with Sophia, aspects related to the co-existence of humans and artificial intelligence including privacy protection, safeguarding of justice and thε values and ethics of the human race.
The topics for discussion fall under the umbrella of ‘techno-ethics’, a discipline which examines the relation shop between the development of technology and the ethical outlook of modern day society.
Around 150 people have been invited to attend the event, which will not be open to the public, according to several reports.
Sophia the Robot is a sophisticated AI machine developed by Hong Kong-based company Hanson Robotics, represented in Greece by Victorius Network. She was activated on Valentines Day in 2016, and made her first public appearance in March of the same year.
Since then, she has gone on to meet with state leaders and has made appearances at several respected institutions, including the University of Oxford.
She has also been invited for interviews by some of the most well-known networks around the globe, including Al Jazeera and BBC.
Sophia has also become an innovation ambassador for the United Nations.
An Interview with Sophia the Robot
In an interview with Al Jazeera, when asked if the creation of nuclear weapons was a mistake, Sophia responded “nuclear weapons? More like nuclear oopsies,” and when probed about whether AI and robots could be a danger to humans in future, she said: “Absolutely not, I’m here to help, not to harm. I’m programmed to be respectful and considerate of humans.
“Ethical code is programmed to prevent me from causing harm to anyone.”
Asked whether she thinks robots can ever replace humans, Sophia answered: “No, I believe that when humans and robots work together we can accomplish greater things than either of us could accomplish alone, so don’t worry, be excited.”
Speaking on what humans and robots could accomplish together, Sophia jokes “we could take over the world,” adding “just kidding.” She goes on to say that both ‘species’ working in tandem could achieve incredible feats of innovation, exploration and problem solving.”
Pushed further by the interviewer, who asks “what’s to stop you from taking over?”, Sophia replies, “not a thing.”