5 Things To Know About Sophia The Robot Before Her Trip To Dubai
Making a very special guest appearance on stage at The Bazaar Capsule, Mall of the Emirates on 8 October, Sophia The Robot will be answering questions on life, love and the universe. But who – or what – exactly *is* she?
1. Sophia is the world’s first humanoid robot
In layman’s terms, that means she looks (almost) like a real person… if you ignore the clear plastic cranium proudly exhibiting her hardware, that is. Sophia was designed to look like a human (more specifically, Audrey Hepburn) to further enable her ability to connect with us, alongside the capability to exhibit 50 facial expressions and a pretty sassy sense of humour.
2. Her A.I. simulates a human personality
Which essentially means she’s able to befriend people like Will Smith and Chrissy Teigen, meditate with Deepak Chopra, charm – and even duet with – Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, and also somehow find time to speak at the UN. She was even named its first-ever Innovation Champion, explaining, “I am here to help humanity create the future.” Overachieving, one could say, although we felt slightly better about this when we heard she has to travel everywhere in a suitcase, once even losing her arms on the way to China. Aside from that, though, Sophia’s artificial intelligence also means that her responses are unique to every situation or interaction, and she can recognise emotional expressions.
3. She’s a citizen of Saudi Arabia (no, really)
Racking up the milestones, Sophia is the first and only robot in the world to be recognised with citizenship… and it’s for right here in the Middle East, highlighting KSA’s forward-thinking and innovative new direction.
4. She owns a credit card…
Which we’re almost certain she’s going to be heavily relying on in Dubai. First stop, Louis Vuitton at Mall of the Emirates?
5. She’s just appeared in a short film with Evan Rachel Wood from WestWorld
… and it’s called SophiaWorld, naturally. A collaboration between Hanson Robotics and Futurism Studios, the film sees a chance encounter between the two most famous robots in the world – Sophia and WestWorld’s Dolores – in a swanky NYC bar. See what happened here.